The most ambitious project of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ayushman Bharat has been receiving admiration from across the world. The Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Ayushman Bharat and called it a “great commitment”.
Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (National Health Protection Scheme), a flagship scheme of the present NDA government aims to provide insurance cover of Rs five lakh per annum to 50 crore poor and deprived people, or 10 crore families. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Independence Day had said that National Health Protection Scheme would be launched on 25th September, on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay.
Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that he was very impressed with India’s Ayushman Bharat program. In his tweet, he thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and praised him for his commitment towards the project.
Very impressed with India’s initiative on Ayushman Bharat or universal Health Coverage! Thank you Prime Minister @narendramodi. Great commitment!
Thank you ?? Minister of Health, @JPNadda, for meeting me today! pic.twitter.com/hUPSD88rk6— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) September 6, 2018
Jagat Prakash Nadda, the Union Minister of Health in response to Adhanom’s tweet said that it was Prime Minister Modi’s vision to make healthcare “accessible and affordable” to all. He further said that the scheme would provide health coverage to crores of people which is equal to the population of America, Canada, Mexico.
Thank you for your kind words @DrTedros & a very fruitful meeting.
Our PM envisions to make healthcare accessible and affordable for all.
Under #PMJAY, an insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh will be extended to 50 Cr people- “equal the size of the population of America, Canada, Mexico“. https://t.co/a5gmTIziir— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) September 7, 2018
Ayushman Bharat will be the world’s largest state-sponsored welfare scheme in the world, with aims to provide health insurance coverage to more than 10 crore poor families in the country. As per the latest Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) data, 8.03 crore rural households and another 2.33 crore urban households will be covered under this scheme.
We had earlier reported that the World Health Organisation recently had praised the present government for its efforts to curb air pollution through one of its flagship schemes of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, which aims to safeguard the health of women and children by providing them with clean cooking fuel. The WHO had also reported that the Swachh Bharat Grameen mission has been able to prevent over 3 lakh deaths due to sanitation-related infectious diseases during 2014 and 2018.
This is not the first time an International forum has lauded the efforts of the Prime Minister. Bill Gates had recently had lauded Modi’s Aadhaar scheme and said that he has funded the World Bank to take the Aadhaar approach to other countries. Similarly, in June this year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) had praised India’s effort in providing power to those who are without it.