With nearly 200 hospitals being empanelled in the state and letters to individual beneficiaries being despatched, the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme is set to be launched nationwide by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 23 from Jharkhand. The scheme is likely to impact 50 crore people. Union Health Minister J P Nadda said here on Tuesday that Jharkhand was selected for the launch not only because it was a priority area requiring attention for health issues, but also because it has done extremely well on health indicators in the last two-to-three years. Nadda, who arrived here to oversee preparations for the launch, said: "Jharkhand has always been a special place for us and the Prime Minister. It has done very well on major health indicators like reducing maternal mortality rate (MMR), infant mortality rate (IMR) and Total Fertility Rate (TFR). It is also a place where attention on health issues is required. That is why we decided to launch it from here." Also read | What is Ayushman Bharat scheme? Nadda said that training of Arogya Mitra, who would be key functionaries linking patients to the hospital and the insurance scheme, was going on. "Before the PM launches the scheme, we will run a small pilot project to ensure that Arogya Mitras are well-versed in their jobs and responsibilities," he said. Modi will also dedicate at least 10 more health and wellness centres in the state, taking the number of such proposed centres to 49. Earlier, Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das chaired a detailed review meeting on health and medical education issues of the state in the presence of the Union Health Minister and top officials of the health department from the Centre and state. Issues like progress of AIIMS at Deoghar, three other medical colleges, creation of manpower with respect to doctors and para-medics were discussed.
