Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda said that about 1.5 lakh people have benefitted from the ambitious Ayushman Bharat healthcare scheme within the first month of its launch.

He said that around Rs 190 crore of bill has been generated under the scheme during this period. Nadda was speaking after jointly inaugurating with Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal the fifth national summit on good, replicable practices and innovations in public health care systems at Kaziranga.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on September 23 rolled out the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), touted as the world's largest healthcare scheme, in Ranchi, Jharkhand.

The insurance scheme provides an annual health cover of Rs 5 lakh per family for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.

In his speech, Nadda said, "Health is a sensitive subject. The schemes have to be implemented swiftly so that every citizen in the country is covered. We have to be very careful so far as the skill is concerned and we have to see how skill can be improved in healthcare."

He appealed to all to follow the principle of the prime minister for bringing about innovation.

"First is to perform, reform and transform to bring about systemic changes which can be replicated as best practices and the second thing that the Prime Minister speaks about is speed, scale and skill", he said.

India being a vast country whatever scheme or programme is launched it becomes the world's largest programme and the schemes have to be implemented swiftly so that every citizen in the country is covered, the health minister added.

Stressing on the need to understand the strength, weakness and challenges in the health sector so that performance can be improved further, he said the international community is waiting to see the performance of India in the health sector and appealed to the health officials to rise up to the expectation.

Speaking about the new ventures of the health department, the minister mentioned the efforts towards reduction of non-communicable diseases and the efforts towards establishment of 15,000 health and wellness centres across the country.

Union Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey said many exemplary practices have been undertaken in several states to meet healthcare goals and the Centre stands committed to supporting the state/Union Territories in their innovative endeavours.

Altogether, 15,000 health and wellness centres across the country will start operating soon, Choubey added.

Sonowal said Ayushman Bharat launched under the leadership of the prime minister will go a long way in ensuring that poor people do not have to bother any longer for the cost of healthcare facilities.

Assam Health and Family Welfare minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the state government has tried to bring about a number of innovations to deliver health care facilities to the unreached, including 19 cancer hospitals being set up in Assam in association with Tata Trust in PPP mode.

The Union Health ministry also gave away awards to the states for best performances.

The award for highest annual decline in neonatal mortality rate in 2016 among states was given to Himachal Pradesh (-15.8 percent) followed by Tamil Nadu (-14.3 percent) and Delhi (-14.3 percent).

The award for highest annual decline in infant mortality rate was given to Kerela (-16.7 percent) followed by Mizoram (-15.6 percent) and Karnataka (-14.3 percent).

The award for highest annual decline in under 5 mortality was given to Himachal Pradesh (-18.2 percent) while Assam came second with (-16.1 percent) and Jharkhand, Gujarat as well Kerela at the third position with (-15.4 percent).

For best performance in family planning, awards were given to West Bengal, Chattisgarh and Rajasthan.

For best performance in the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program(RNTCP), awards were given to Andhra Pradesh, Gujurat and Arunachal Pradesh.

In National Leprosy Eradication Programme (NLEP), award was given to Gujarat in category of State and Dadar and Nagar Haveli in the category of Union Territory. Awards for best performance in national programme for prevention and control of cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) were given to Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

The award for best performing States in the category of indoor services (based on change of IPD/1000 population from 2016-17 to 2017-18-Health Management Information System) was given to Goa, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, while Lakshadweep got the award among the Union Territories (UTs).

For the best out-patient services, the award was given to Gujarat, Odisha and Karnataka, whereas Puducherry got the award amongst the Union Territories.