Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda on Monday said India’s health system embraced a ‘whole of government’ and ‘whole of society approach’ to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC), with emphasis on strengthening primary healthcare and essential services.

Speaking at the 77th session of WHO Southeast Asia Region (SEARO) here, the Minister said, “In line with the commitment to provide health cover for all, the Union government launched the world’s largest publicly funded health assurance scheme, the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri – Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY).”

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He said this initiative covers over 120 million families, providing an annual hospitalisation benefit of USD 6,000 per family.

Informing that the government has recently expanded the scheme to all citizens aged 70 years and above, Nadda said, “This expansion will benefit around 45 million families, including 60 million elderly population, by providing them free health insurance coverage. It underscores the government’s commitment to ensuring universal and inclusive healthcare for India’s growing elderly demographic.”

Citing the growing public health challenges posed by non-communicable diseases (NCDs), the Minister said, “India is implementing the National Programme for Prevention and Control of NCDs since 2010 to address conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. This initiative has led to the establishment of 753 NCD clinics, 356 Day Care Centers, and 6,238 Community Health Centres to focus on preventive measures at an early stage.”

He said India as a lighthouse country in the digital health arena, is poised to share its Digital Public Infrastructure (DPIs) such as Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, e-Sanjeevani, Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) and SAKSHAM by providing technical and financial support through the Global Initiative on Digital Health – a WHO-managed network, launched during India’s G20 Presidency.

He also stated that following the remarkable success of the CoWIN digital platform during the COVID-19 pandemic, India has conceptualised the online digital platform-UWIN, for the Universal Immunization Programme. The portal will register, track and monitor all vaccination events.”

Understanding the important role that traditional and complementary medicine plays across numerous Southeast Asian member states, Nadda said that India has backed the WHO in creating the Global Traditional Medicine Centre, aimed at promoting these systems on a global scale.

He said that India’s experience in integrating this system with the conventional system of medicine has led to the provision of holistic healthcare, promoting overall well-being and expanding the range of healthcare services.

“Our Ayushman Aarogya Mandirs that are community Health and Wellness Centres are significant in providing comprehensive healthcare through both traditional and conventional systems of medicines, ensuring the physical and mental well-being of our citizens”, he added.

Nadda highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas’ (Involvement of all, Development of all, Trust of all, Efforts of all).

“We believe that collective experiences can drive transformative actions across countries. Health transcends borders, necessitating a holistic and collaborative approach. By learning from each other’s successes and challenges, we can enhance the resilience of health systems,” he added.