‘Ayushman Bharat is a Boon for the Country’: Against the Motion

Abstract

Background: Ayushman Bharat, came into existence in 2018, was based on recommendations of National Health Policy 2017 with an aim to provide Universal Health Coverage to citizens of India. Under this, two inter-connected components were envisaged namely, Health and Wellness Centres and National health protection scheme. But since its inception, there has been concerns with its implementation throughout the country. Objectives: This article primarily identifies the lacunaes in framework and implementation of Ayushman Bharat across the nation. The secondary objective was to study the potential consequences of this scheme on health care infrastructure of country. Result: There is a shortfall of about 20% Sub centres and an equal number of Primary health centres in India and almost 90% of existing ones do not meet Indian Public health standards. This coupled with shortage of manpower is a crucial barrier in concept of HWCs. Inadequate and incomplete coverage of health services with exclusion of outpatient services, ambiguity in beneficiary definitions and concerns related to reports of frauds might affect NHPS implementation. Insufficient financial allocation is a key obstacle for successful implementation of AB. This scheme might lead to compromise in other health related programmes. Conclusion: Without addressing existing deficiencies in health care system, mere introduction of a new comprehensive scheme might fail to achieve its objectives. There is a need to address these gaps first to get the expected results and improve health outcomes in country.