Articulating the efficacy of the State’s healthcare system, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has said that the policy is being pursued with care knowing the pulse of the people with preventive and curative measures and the outreach percolating to the micro-level. 

Participating in the group discussion on 'Future-proofing Health Systems' at the World Economic Forum (WEF) here on Monday, the Chief Minister made an impressive presentation on healthcare being implemented in the State with a focus on micro-level where a population of 2,000 will have a Village Clinic with health workers monitoring the medicare and will stand as a Medical Hub.

At the next level, taking Mandal (block) with a population of 30,000 as a unit, two Primary Health Centres (PHCs) will be in the place where four doctors will be working. Two of them will be assigned to four to five villages depending on the size and they will give dedicated services to those villages touring in ambulances and connecting with the locals like family doctors. 

At the macro level, teaching hospitals will take care of the curative part of healthcar, he said adding that while the State has 11 teaching hospitals, 16 more will be coming up covering all the parliament constituencies in the State for equitable distribution of healthcare services. 

On the policies, practices and partnerships adapted and scaled in health systems to build resilience and ensure uninterrupted care even in times of shocks and crisis, the Chief Minister said that the State had taken up house-to-house survey 44 times during the pandemic and followed the policy of tracing, testing and treating which resulted in lower mortality rate (0.63 percent), lesser than the national average (1.21 percent). 

For healthcare, the Chief Minister said, one has to look at the availability, accessibility, and affordability and the State has been implementing YSR Aarogyasri which has provided treatment free of cost to over 25 lakh people during the last three years and 1.44 crore households of the total 1.54 houses in the State were given the cards scaling down the eligibility criteria to Rs five lakh per annum. 

On a national level Ayushman Bharath, an insurance scheme for States is available but it covers only 1,000 procedures while we have widened the scope by including 2,446 procedures. ‘I named the scheme after my father which shows the priority I give to it,’ he said, giving a personal touch.