MANU/PIBU/0966/2018

Department/Board : Press Information Bureau

Date : 19.06.2018

Shri J. P. Nadda Releases National Health Profile-2018 - Launches India's First Ever Nationwide Healthcare Establishment Census

Launches India's First Ever Nationwide Healthcare Establishment Census

Shri J. P. Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare released the National Health Profile (NHP)-2018 prepared by the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI), here today. The E-book (digital version) of the annual document was also released. The National Health Profile covers demographic, socio-economic, health status and health finance indicators, along with comprehensive information on health infrastructure and human resources in health. At the function, Shri J. P. Nadda also launched the National Health Resource Repository (NHRR) - Country's first ever national healthcare facility registry of authentic, standardized and updated geo-spatial data of all public and private healthcare establishments.

Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Smt. Anupriya Patel, Ministers of State for Health and Family Welfare, Smt. Preeti Sudan, Secretary (Health) and Santanu Chowdhury, Director (NRSC, ISRO), also graced the occasion.

Speaking at the function, Shri Nadda stated that the Health Profile is a very important tool as it has helped in designing various programmes. He cited the examples of initiatives like Free Drugs and Diagnostics and Mission Parivar Vikas that have benefited from the Health Profiles. Shri Nadda further said that India has made substantial progress on several indicators in the recent years and stated that its national health indicators like Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Maternal Maternity Rate (MMR) and Total Fertility Rate (TFR) are declining faster a than the world pace. The Union Health Minister added that India has shown impressive gains with 22% reduction in Maternal Mortality since 2013. "We must also appreciate that Uttar Pradesh with 30% decline has topped the chart in the reduction of Maternal Deaths," he said.

Shri Nadda further said that Ayushman Bharat will provide comprehensive healthcare to the people as 1,50,000 sub-centres will be converted into Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs). "The H&WC would provide preventive, promotive, and curative care for non-communicable diseases, dental, mental, geriatric care, palliative care, etc. He further stated that the Government has initiated universal screening of common NCDs such as diabetes, hypertension and common cancers along with Tuberculosis and Leprosy, which will eventually help in reducing the disease burden of the country. This will again change the Health Profile of the people in future.

The Union Health Minister stated that the data is an important source of navigation. It helps in understanding the goals, our strengths and weaknesses and it is also an important means to strategize. Good compiled data enables the policymakers to make evidence-based policies and aids effective implementation of various schemes, he added. He also advised that NHRR should have inbuilt process for upd........