Lok Sabha Question No. 3351 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-13
Subject: Promoting Private Investment in Health Sector
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Ranjeetsingh Naik Nimbalkar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3351 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13 TH MARCH, 2020

## PROMOTING PRIVATE IN VESTMENT IN HEALTH S ECTOR

## 3351. SHRI RANJEET SINGH HINDURAO NAIK NIMBALKAR:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

(a) whether as per a survey conducted during 2015 the health sector infrastructure in villages is very poor and private sector investment in health sector is minimalin rural India;

(b) whether the said survey also revealed that amongst the 4000 projects under implementation at that point of time with investment of funds in crores, merely 9 projects i.e. 0.21 per cent were for health sector; and

(c) if so, th e reaction of the Government thereto and steps taken to promote private investment in health sector in rural India?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a)& (b): The  purport  of  the question  is  based  on  a  private  study/article  which  was published in 2015. The objective and methodology of the said study are not available. How public health and hospitals being a State subject, it is the responsibility of the St provide a dequate and effective health infrastructure in the villages. Ministry of Health & Welfare, under National Health Mission (NHM), provides financial and technical supports to the State s/UTs to strengthen their healthcare system including infrastructur al support to State/UTs in constructing  new  health  facilities  and/or  for  up - g adation  of  infrastructure,  Mother  &  Child Health (MCH) wings, up - gradation of the trauma centres & First Referral Units, Operationalization of the blood banks etc. and re ruitmen t of health human resource . Further, Ministry  of  Health  &  Family  Welfare  publishes Rural  Health  Statistics  (RHS)  annually  to provide information regarding health sector infrastructure including availability of health human resource in the country. As perRural Health Statistics 2018 - 19 (as on 31 st March 2019), there are 1,57,411Sub- Centre s (SC),24,855 Primary  Health  Centre s (PHCs),  and5,335 Community Health Centre s(CHCs) functioning in rural areas of India (as reported by States/UTs).

- (c): The  measure s  taken/proposed  by  the  Government  of  India  for  providing  better  heal services across India especially in rural areas are as follows:
- The  Ayushman  Bharat Yojana, with  its  two  components  of  Health  and  Wellness Centres (HWCs) and Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), address es disparity  in  access and  reduce s out  of  pocket  expenditure  for  secondary  and  tertiary care  hospitalization  for  40%  of  India's  population.  The  scheme  provides  hospital  care for about 1 , 350  illnesses at secondary and tertiary lev el mpanelled public and private hospitals .
- National  Health  Mission  (NHM)  is  creating  a  network  of  1,50,000  HWCs  by upgrading  existing Sub  Centres  (SCs)  and  Primary  Health  Centres  (PHCs)  to  provide Comprehensive Primary Health Care (CPHC), which is univ ersal and free to all those who  access  public  health  facilities. HWC  encourages healthy  choices  and  behaviours including  Yoga  and  other  physical  activities. The  CPHC  basket  of  services  cover  12 key  service  areas,  which  go  beyond  the  Reproductive,  Matern al,  Neonatal,  Child  and Adolescent  Health  (RMNCH+A)  services  to  include  screening  and  care  for  NCDs (diabetes,  high  blood  pressure,  oral,  breast,  cervical  cancers  etc.),  elder palliative and rehabilitative care, Oral, Eye and ENT care, mental h ealth and first level care for emergencies and trauma etc .
- Providing financial support in the form of untied funds, annual maintenance grant Rogi  Kalyan  Samiti  ( RKS ) funds  for  development  of  health  facilities  and  ensuring services.
- In  addition, certain  new  initiatives  have  been  undertaken  like  the  Screening  for  No -communicable  Diseases  (NCDs),  Mothers  Absolute  Affection  (to  promote  exclusive breastfeeding),  Pradhan  Mantri  Shurakshit  Matratva  Abhiyan  (to  improve  access specialist  maternal  care through  voluntary  participation  of  private  providers), Pradhan Mantri  National  Dialysis  Program, Mission  Indradhanush  (to  immunise  partially  or uncovered  population),  Rashtriya  Swasthya  Bal  Karyakram  (RBSK),  Kayakalp (to promote  cleanliness,  hygiene  and  I nfection  Control  Practices  in  public  Health  Care Facilities ),Labour room quality improvement initiative -LAQSHYA (I nitiative to reduce preventable maternal and new - born  mortality,  morbidity  and  stillbirths associated with the  care  around  delivery  in  Labou r  room  and  Maternity  OT  and  ensure  respectful maternity  care ), Surakshit  Matritva  Aashwasan  (SUMAN) ( to  end  all  preventable maternal and neonatal deaths ) etc.

Also,  National  Health  Policy,  2017 suggests  exploring  collaboration  for  primary  care services with 'not - for -profit' organizations having a track record of public services where critical gaps exist, as a short - term measure. It also advocates for contracting of private sector in the activit es  such  as  Capacity  building, Skill  Development  programmes , Corpor ate  Social Responsibility (CSR), Mental healthcare programmes ,Disease Surveillance ,Health Information System and Disaster Management etc.