india

Updated: Feb 08, 2019 14:40 IST

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has directed the Ministry of Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) to run 10% of the 1.5 lakh health and wellness centres proposed as part of the flagship Ayushman Bharat scheme in the 2018-19 budget, a Union minister said on Wednesday.

These centres will be called Ayush Health and Wellness Centres (AHWCs) and exclusively use alternative systems of medicine.

“The PMO has asked our ministry to run around 10% of these centres and our immediate priority is to identify at least 12,500 centres to turn them into full-fledged AHWCs where all Ayush services will be provided under one roof,” said Shripad Yesso Naik, Union minister of state for Ayush, in his address at a conference of Ayush ministers of States and Union Territories in Delhi.

As part of Ayushman Bharat, 1.5 lakh health and wellness centres were proposed to be set up in a phased manner to provide comprehensive primary health care. The funding will be shared by the state and the central governments, with the Centre providing 60% of the funds.

“There are at least 40,000 Ayush centres running in the country, of which 12,500 centres will be converted or upgraded into Ayush health and wellness centres,” said Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, secretary, Ayush. The Ayush ministry has been given three years to put these centres in place. Each AHWC will have a team comprising a physician, two multi-purpose workers and accredited social health activists (ASHAs). ASHAs are female community health workers.

The centres will have an examination room, yoga hall, diagnostics and medicine dispensation room, telehealth facilities, labour room, herbal garden among others. “While these 12,500 centres will run exclusively through Ayush systems, even in the remaining health and wellness centres, there will be an integration of both the systems as we are attempting to create a seamless model of integrative medicine,” said VK Paul, member, Niti Aayog.