UPSC 2017: Best of PIB 17th March

National Family Health Survey-4

• The ministry of health and family welfare conducts NFHS
• The survey is done periodically (the previous survey was done in 2005-06
• NFHS measures the nutritional indicators in the country in order to assess the prevalence of malnutrition
• As per the report of 2015-16, the malnutrition levels have come down
• As per the previous NFHS-4 survey (2015-16), of the children under the age of 5
  • 7% are underweight
  • 4% are stunted
• The numbers were 42.5% for underweight and 48% stunted as per the previous survey

Cabinet approves National Health Policy 2017 

• The last time the policy was formulated was in 2002
• The government has formulated his policy in 2014 and the cabinet after the consultations has notified it in 2017
• Objective of the National Health Policy 2017 is to achieve the highest possible level of good health and wellbeing, by preventing and promoting health care orientation in all developmental policies, and to achieve universal access to good quality health care services without anyone going through financial hardships to get access to it
• The primary aim of the National Health Policy, 2017, is to inform, clarify, strengthen and prioritize the role of the Government in shaping health systems in all its dimensions
• The policy emphasizes reorienting and strengthening the Public Health Institutions across the country, so as to provide universal access to free drugs, diagnostics and other essential healthcare
• The policy proposes free drugs, free diagnostics and free emergency care services in all public hospitals to provide financial support and assistance
• To fill the critical gaps, policy envisages strategic purchase of secondary and tertiary care services as a short term measure to supplement
• The Policy recommends prioritizing the role of the Government in shaping health systems in all its dimensions
• It envisages private sector collaboration for strategic purchasing, capacity building, skill development programmes, awareness generation, developing sustainable networks for community to strengthen mental health services, and disaster management
• The policy advocates financial and non-incentives for encouraging the private sector participation
• The policy proposes raising public health expenditure to 2.5% of the GDP in a time bound manner
• Policy envisages providing larger package of assured comprehensive primary health care through the Health and Wellness Centres
• The policy advocates allocating major proportion (up to two thirds or more) of resources to primary care followed by secondary and tertiary care
• The policy aspires to provide at the district level most of the secondary care which is currently provided at a medical college hospital
• It seeks to align other policies for medical devices and equipment with public health goals
• Towards mainstreaming the potential of AYUSH the policy envisages better access to AYUSH remedies through colocation in public facilities