Nagaland Governor launches Ayushman Bhava campaign in Kohima

DIMAPUR — Nagaland Governor La. Ganesan on Wednesday launched the state-level Ayushman Bhava campaign in the presence of Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio at the Dr. Imkongliba Ao hall in Kohima.

The two-week health campaign will be held across India from September 17 to October 2 in an attempt to make healthcare affordable and accessible to all.

Speaking on the occasion, the governor said that the Ayushman Bhava (loosely translated as live long) campaign is a revolutionary initiative aimed at strengthening the healthcare system across the country and providing accessible healthcare to all citizens, said an update from the Raj Bhavan.

Healthcare is a fundamental right and it is our duty as a welfare state to ensure that no citizen is deprived of this basic right due to financial constraints, he said.

The governor also gave away awards to various voluntary blood donors.

Neiphiu Rio also said during the programme that the campaign will bring the state closer to the objective of achieving “Healthy villages” based on the principle of “leaving no one behind” and that it’s an important component of ‘Sustainable Development Goals 2023’.

Rio gave away certificates to Nikshay Mitras awardees during the occasion.

Minister of Health and Family Welfare, P Paiwang Konyak said that Ayushman Bhava is an umbrella campaign consisting of three major components — Ayushman Apke Dwar 3.0, Ayushman Mela and Ayushman Sabha.

He updated that Nagaland has already generated and distributed 6,12,415 PM-JAY health cards covering 2,71,593 households to date, while a total of 13,782 claims have been submitted by various hospitals amounting to INR 32.63 crore, out of which INR 24.29 crore has been paid.

Through the intervention of the scheme, out-of-pocket expenditure on hospitalisation for 13,782 beneficiaries amounting to INR 24.29 crore have been prevented, said the minister, while urging the people of Nagaland to actively take part in the Ayushman Bhava campaign and avail various health schemes.

The update went on to say that a pledge for organ donation was also read out by the participants.

The programme was organised by the department of Health and Family Welfare and attended by Deputy Chief Minister Y Patton, ministers, MLAs and officials from the Health department.

Earlier in the day, the Governor, CM, Dy CM, ministers and MLAs joined the nationwide launch (virtually) of the campaign by President of India Droupadi Murmu.

The President was joined by Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya and others; governors and ministers from various states during the launch of the campaign along with the Ayushman Bhava Portal, from Raj Bhawan, Gandhinagar in Gujarat.

Addressing the nation, she lauded the multi-ministerial approach adopted to achieve the ambitious goal of delivering healthcare services to the last mile of India, particularly the underprivileged.

She said Gram Panchayats that successfully achieve their goals will be declared as Ayushman Gram Panchayats.

‘Under Ayushman Bhav, Health Melas and Medical Camps is an important component which will be set up once a week at all Health and Wellness Centres and Community Health Clinics, said Dr. Mandaviya, as per an update from the PIB.

 “Today, around 1 lakh Ni-kshay mitras are taking care of the 10 lakh TB patients who had given their consent for this initiative,” he said. “Today, there are over 1.6 lakh functional AB-HWCs in the country where people are availing free primary care facilities, diagnostics and medicines. Till now, we have achieved a footfall of over 195 crore in the AB-HWCs.”

Also read: NLA monsoon season: Nagaland Anatomy Bill, other new rules introduced