NEW DELHI: Ayushman Bharat, POSHAN Abhiyaan, and Swachh Bharat are reducing disease while building human capital, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.
In a post on social media platform X, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) shared a media article by Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty, Chairman at Narayana Health, which discussed how the government has made healthcare an instrument for economic transformation.
“Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty writes that India's healthcare is now a key driver of economic growth. Initiatives like Ayushman Bharat, POSHAN Abhiyaan, and Swachh Bharat are reducing disease, protecting household savings, and building human capital, ” the post said.
“Seeing health as an investment, not a cost, is boosting governance and prosperity, ” it added.
In the article, Shetty, a noted cardiologist, detailed how healthcare policy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has moved from welfare to building a “Viksit Bharat” -- a developed India -- by 2047.
Sharing the achievements under the government-led health initiatives, he said these demonstrate that “good governance in healthcare is also sound economic policy”.
Shetty elucidated how Ayushman Bharat, launched in 2018, has become the world’s largest publicly funded health insurance scheme. The scheme covers more than 55 crore economically vulnerable citizens -- providing accessible and affordable healthcare to the common man.
The health insurance scheme has been key in reducing Out-of-Pocket Expenditure (OOPE) through increased social security and primary health spending.