National Health Mission

GENESIS:-

As an evolutionary initiative to address healthcare challenges, The Indian Government established the National Health Mission in 2005. Significant milestones in reducing maternal and child mortality, enhancing immunization coverage, and promoting family planning are achieved by various schemes like JSY (Janani Suraksha Yojna, RBSK (Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram) and Mission Indradhanush. Though Health department is facing challenges such as inequitable access and a shortage of skilled personnel which requires sustained efforts to build a healthier nation.

OBJECTIVE OF NATIONAL HEALTH MISSION IN INDIA:-

1. Reducing Maternal and child mortality: By promoting Institutional deliveries and by implementing maternal and child health care NHM tries to reduce Maternal mortality rate(MMR) and Infant Mortality rate(IMR).
2. Universal Access to Healthcare: NHM aims to provide affordable, accessible as well as quality healthcare services to every individual in India.

3. Strengthening the Public health system: To ensure efficient service delivery as well as capability building, NHM focuses on the improvement of public health Infrastructure at the district, state, and national levels.

4. Control of communicable and noncommunicable diseases: While addressing the rising burden of noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes & Hypertension, the mission aims to both control as well as prevent the spread of communicable diseases like tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV/AIDS.

5. Free drug and diagnostic Services: To reduce financial barriers and improve access to medical care NHM ensures the availability of free essential drugs and Diagnostic Services.

6. Promotion of AYUSH(Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy): To provide both holistic and comprehensive health service, NHM encourages the integration of the traditional medicine system with modern healthcare practices.

7. Health and wellness centers(HWCs): Providing essential services like antenatal care, and immunization, Establishing HWCs as the foundation of primary healthcare delivery, Family planning, and common illness management.

8. Enhanced urban Health: This mission focuses on addressing the specific health challenges faced by urban areas. Thus the scheme improves healthcare facilities for the urban population after merging with National Urban Health Mission.
9. Free Drug and Diagnostic Services: To reduce financial barriers and improve access to medical care, NHM ensures the availability of free essential drugs and Diagnostic services.
10. National Quality Assurance Program:NHM emphasizes the importance of quality healthcare by implementing programs to enhance the quality of health services at all the relevant levels.

Core Strategies of National Health Mission:-

The National Health Mission (NHM) implements its core strategies to achieve its objective. The following are the core strategies:

1. Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY): provides financial assistance for institutional deliveries to reduce maternal mortality rate. To know more about JSY one may visit:https://blessedimran.com/janani-suraksha-yojna/
2. Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakaram(RBSK): identifies and treats health conditions in children, and ensures early intervention.
3. Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram(JSSK): offers free healthcare services to pregnant women and newborns.
4. Mission Indradhanush: emphasizes immunizing children and pregnant women against preventable diseases.
5. National Urban Health Mission(NUHM) addresses healthcare challenges in urban areas, especially among the urban poor and slum populations.
6. Kayakalp: promotes hygiene and cleanliness in public healthcare facilities.

Collectively these strategies contribute to enhancing healthcare access and improving the overall health of the population.

Achievements of National Health Mission:-

Since its launch in 2013, the National Health Mission has achieved remarkable milestones in India. It has controlled communicable diseases like tuberculosis and malaria, reduced maternal and infant mortality rates, increased immunization coverage.The establishment of Health and Wellness centres has strengthened primary healthcare and emphasis on mental health has increased. The scheme has also worked on building healthcare infrastructure, especially in underserved areas.NHM has made remarkable strides in improving healthcare services and health outcomes across the nation , despite various challenges. To attack remaining issues and to create more equitable and accessible healthcare system for all citizens, continued and sincere efforts are needed.

Challenges to National Health Mission: –

1. Shortage of Skilled healthcare personnel: Insufficiently trained doctors, nurses, and allied healthcare workers.
2. Regional discrimination: Uneven distribution of healthcare services, giving more facilities to urban areas.
3. Inadequate Healthcare Infrastructure: Lack of both facilities and resources, particularly in rural areas.
4. Health Emergencies: Outbreaks and disasters which consequently strain the healthcare system’s capacity.
5. Noncommunicable diseases(NCDs): Rising cases of NCDs like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

WAY FORWARD FOR NHM:-

1. Enhancing workforce competencies: Efforts to be made to restore healthcare professionals and impart training to new professionals.
2. Strengthening Primary Healthcare: Focus on Health and Wellness Centers for comprehensive primary care.
3. Addressing Mental health: Integrate mental health services into primary care.
4. Promoting Preventive measures: Focuses on Health education and preventive interventions.
5. Public–Private partnership: Encourage partnership between Government, private sectors, NGOs, and international organizations. This will help to maximize knowledge sharing and resource allocation.
6. Quality Assurance: To ensure consistent and high-quality healthcare services across all levels of care, Implement rigorous quality control measures.
7. Community engagement: Empower communities through health education, awareness, campaign, and involvement in decision-making to drive health-promoting behaviors.
8. Innovation in Disease Control: To tackle public health challenges and diseases effectively, utilize data-driven strategies and innovative approaches.
9. Health Technology Integration: To improve healthcare access, remote consultation and data management ,promote digital health solutions,electronic health record and telemedicine.
10. Evidence based Policy: To continually assess the impact and effectiveness of NHM initiatives formulate policy decision on robust data collection,monitoring and analysis.
11. Infrastructure Investment: Direct resource towards building and upgrading healthcare facilities, particularly in remote and underserved regions, to bridge healthcare disparities.

Conclusion:-

This scheme has emerged as a transformative and impactful initiative in the Indian Healthcare system. NHM has made significant development in reducing maternal as well as infant mortality rates. Similarly, it has made development in battling communicable diseases, and improving healthcare accessibility. Public health outcomes have improved by focusing on family planning, immunization, and health education. Despite its significant achievements, challenges as mentioned above persist which needs continuous efforts to resolve.

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