Govt to shell out Rs 22.5k cr to improve urban healthcare

It's another ambitious welfare initiative by the UPA government, the Rs 22,500 crore National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) which has just got the Cabinet's nod. Drafted along the lines of its fairly successful peer- the national rural health mission, this urban program will aim to improve the health status of the urban poor. But funding and implementing this mega mission might be a different challenge altogether, reports CNBC-TV18's Archana Shukla.

The bitter truth behind glitzy glass facades, the falling health indicators of the urban poor, worse when compared to their rural counterparts, 73 percent of children born in these slums, die before they turn 5. 60 percent of them get no immunisation and over 59 percent of women in these areas are anaemic. Its this 7.7 crore urban poor that the government now intends to reach out to through its urban health mission. 

Government has proposed primary health centre for population of 50,000-60,000,  community health centre for 5-6 primary centres, nursing midwife for a population of 10,000, social health activist for every 200-500 households.
 
Mostly in line with the national rural health mission, the fund allocation model for the urban version though has been tweaked with the states expected to contribute more

"The estimated cost of NUHM for 5 years period is Rs.22,507 crore with the central government share of Rs.16,955 crore. Centre-state funding pattern will be 75:25."

But considering the plan was stuck for long due to funding crunch and the government has so far earmarked a paltry sum of 1 crore rupees for the current fiscal towards the mission critics are already questioning the future budgetary impact and the sustainability of the mission, terming it a poll sop. Further, funding aside, experts say the on-ground implementation of the scheme will probably be a bigger challenge.

"There are biggest challenges in primary healthcare centers. Availability of doctors and nurses is a problem. The infra, and some of these primary health sectors have become defunct and are not working. I think the first and the primary role is not to create more bricks and models they needs to upgrade the existing health centers," Kewal Handa
Managing Partner, Conexus Social Responsibility Services said.

But with the cabinet nod for the mission, at least some positive movement is taking place not to forget the government needs to come strong on its plans to increase spending on healthcare to 2 percent of GDP, which has till now just been on paper.

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