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Under NRHM, Rogi Kalyan Samitis (RKS) / Hospital Development Committees have been created as legal entities to enable greater flexibility and retention as well as use of resources that they generate through their services. All the Samitis have also been provided untied funds to carry out locally relevant action to ensure better services for the poor households that visit the government facilities. RKS have the mandate to ensure that the poor and needy receive cashless hospitalized treatment and to charge for services only from those who can pay.

However, the state of public health facilities sometimes force the poor and needy patients also to approach private health care facilities which are available at high cost, so health insurance and other innovative schemes in this area are vital.

Strengthening of Ayush

Under Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha & Homoeopathy (AYUSH), there is a network of 3,203 hospitals and 21,351 dispensaries across the country. The health services provided by this network are largely focused on primary health care. The sector has a marginal presence in secondary and tertiary healthcare. In the private and profit sector, there are several thousand AYUSH clinics and around 250 hospitals and nursing homes for in-patient care and specialized therapies like Panchkarma. The key interventions and strategies in the Eleventh Five Year Plan include training for AYUSH personnel, mainstreaming the system of AYUSH in National Health Care Delivery System, strengthening the regulatory mechanism for ensuring quality control, R&D and processing technology involving accredited laboratories in the Government and non-Government sector, and establishing centres of excellence.

The Mission seeks to revitalize local health traditions and mainstream AYUSH infrastructure, including manpower, and drugs, to strengthen the public health system at all levels. AYUSH medications shall be included in the Drug Kit provided at village levels to ASHA? The additional supply of generic drugs for common ailments at Sub Centre / PHC / CHC levels under the Mission shall also include AYUSH formulation. At the CHC level, two rooms shall be provided for AYUSH practitioner and pharmacist under the Indian Public Health System (IPHS) model. Single doctor PHCs shall be upgraded to two doctor PHCs by mainstreaming AYUSH practitioner at that level.

The Way Ahead

Though a lot has been achieved since its inception in partnership with states, this sector requires simultaneous action on many fronts. The institutional platform of Village Health & Sanitation Committees, the Rogi Kalyan Samitis and the Panchayati Raj Institution Committees at various levels is providing a rare opportunity for convergent action on all determinants of health.

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Dr. Gursharan Singh Kainth started his career as Lecturer at Post Graduate Dept. of Economics, Government College, Gurdaspur, and later at Khalsa College; Amritsar, specializes in Quantitative & Development Economics. Has the distinction of serving Punjab Agricultural Univ, Ludhiana, for more than 2 decades and remained Director-Principal of Saint Soldier Management & Technical Institute, Jalandhar. Currently, heading GAD Institute of Development Studies, Amritsar, a self-financed research institute. Has been honoured with various awards, including Guru Draunacharya Samman, Vijay Rattan Award, etc.
Article posted on December 14, 2008.