PM Modi launches health coverage plan for citizens aged 70 and above | Latest news India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched the extension of health coverage to all those aged 70 years and above under the government's flagship scheme Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), apart from other projects related to the health sector with a global cost. of 12,850 billion.

The expansion of the program is significant because it will help provide health coverage to all eligible seniors, regardless of income.

The Prime Minister, however, criticized the governments of Delhi and West Bengal for not implementing the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme for reasons of political interest and expressed pain that senior citizens of these two states are not eligible for free treatment under the expanded program. .

Most of us come from a background where illness meant love at first sight for the whole family and, especially in a poor household, if one person suffered from a serious illness, every member of the family was deeply affected for to overcome the despair of the poor, our government introduced the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, where the government would bear the hospitalization expenses of the poor up to 5 lakh, Modi said.

around 4 crore (40 million) poor people in the country have benefited from the Ayushman Yojana by getting treatment without having to pay a single rupee. When I meet the beneficiaries of Ayushman Yojana in different states of the country, I am convinced that the scheme has been a blessing to everyone associated with it, be it a doctor or a member of the paramedical staff.

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Former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national in-charge Arvind Kejriwal rejected the Prime Minister's allegations and told him not to play politics on the healthcare issue. Under the Delhi Government scheme, every person living in Delhi gets full and free treatment irrespective of cost… I request you to study the Delhi model and instead of Ayushman Bharat Yojana, to implement the Delhi model across India so that people can benefit from it on the ground, he said in an article on X. The Trinamool Congress (TMC), ruling West Bengal , rejected the Prime Minister's allegations. The Prime Minister made baseless statements for political reasons ahead of the six general elections in our state. We have our Swasthya Sathi program which offers the same benefits. Instead of worrying about our healthcare, he should release the Centre's share of funds for various welfare projects, said state minister Shashi Panja.

Modi added that everyone aged above 70 years in the country will get free treatment at the hospital on production of an Ayushman Vaya Vandana card. While distributing the card to three new beneficiaries from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand, the Prime Minister stressed that the card was universal and there were no restrictions on income , whether low, medium or high.

Modi also launched the U-WIN platform which will provide India with a technologically advanced interface in the healthcare sector.

The world witnessed the success of our Co-WIN platform during the pandemic, and the success of the UPI payment system became a global story; India aims to replicate this success in the healthcare sector through digital public infrastructure, he said.

The projects were announced at the All India Institute of Ayurveda on the occasion of Dhanvantari Jayanti and the 9th Ayurveda Day.

Modi highlighted that over the last decade, the country has seen the beginning of a new chapter in the healthcare sector with the fusion of knowledge of Ayurveda with modern medicine.

He said the Indian Institute of Ayurveda had been a focal point of this chapter and seven years ago on Ayurveda Day he had the chance to dedicate the first phase of the institute in the country and with the blessings of Lord Dhanvantri, he inaugurated the second phase of the institute.

Modi noted that it would be possible to see ancient techniques such as Panchakarma (therapy to remove toxins from the body) infused with modern technologies in the institute as well as advanced research studies in the fields of Ayurveda and medical sciences.

He underlined the government's priority towards the health of its citizens and presented the five pillars of health policy. He listed the following five pillars: preventive health care, early detection of diseases, free and inexpensive treatments and medicines, availability of doctors in small towns and expansion of technology in health services.

India views the healthcare sector as holistic health. Today's projects provide insight into these five pillars, he said.

The Prime Minister expressed happiness over the establishment of several hospitals for the treatment of shramiks (manual workers) and spoke of the inauguration of pharmaceutical units which would play a key role in the manufacturing of advanced medicines and stents and implants of high quality to drive India's growth.

Modi also mentioned launching at least 14,000 PM Jan Aushadhi Kendras across the country, where medicines are available at 80 per cent discount. He informed that the poor and the middle class managed to save 30,000 crore due to availability of cheap medicines, adding that prices of devices like stents and knee implants have been reduced, thereby preventing a loss of at least 80,000 billion.

The Prime Minister highlighted the unprecedented progress made in India's healthcare sector over the last decade, contrasting it with the limited achievements of the previous six to seven decades.

In the last 10 years, we have seen a record number of new AIIMS and medical colleges being established, he said. Nearly 100,000 new MBBS and MD seats have been added in the last 10 years, he said.

Modi also highlighted the importance of validating traditional herbs ashwagandha, turmeric and black pepper through high-impact scientific studies.

Laboratory validation of our traditional health care systems will not only increase the value of these herbs but also create a significant market, he said, highlighting the growing demand for ashwagandha, which is expected to reach 2.5 billion dollars by the end of this decade.