Healthcare Initiatives for Elderly under NPHCE, Ayushman Bharat: MoS Health informs Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched several initiatives to cater to the specific healthcare needs of senior citizens. These programs focus on making healthcare services accessible, affordable, and specialized, covering preventive, curative, and rehabilitative care. The initiatives aim to provide comprehensive healthcare across all levels, from primary to tertiary care, ensuring the well-being of elderly citizens.

The National Programme for Health Care of the Elderly (NPHCE) is one of the key initiatives aimed at improving healthcare for senior citizens in India. The program was specifically designed to create a comprehensive healthcare setup that caters to the needs of the ageing population.

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In addition to the NPHCE, the Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) is another important initiative that benefits senior citizens, particularly those aged 70 years and above.

Shri Prataprao Jadhav, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare was responding to questions posed by Shri Jose K. Mani. During the Rajya Sabha Session, he asked about the type of initiatives in place to improve access to healthcare for senior citizens; about the details of specific programs to provide free or subsidized healthcare for elderly citizens under the National Programme for Health Care of the Elderly (NPHCE); and

Furthermore, he was inquired about the type of provisions made to ensure home-based care for senior citizens in remote areas.

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MoS Health informed that the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India had launched the National Programme for Health Care of Elderly (NPHCE) in 2010-11 to ensure comprehensive health care set up dedicated and tuned to the needs of the elderly. The interventions are designed to capture the Preventive, Curative, and rehabilitative aspects of geriatric healthcare. The program aims to provide accessible, affordable, and high-quality long-term, comprehensive, and dedicated care services to the aging population of the country.

The benefits of the Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (ABPMJAY) have been extended to all senior citizens aged 70 years and above.

The scheme’s mandate is to provide free treatment benefits of up to ₹ 5 lakh per year on a family basis to all senior citizens aged 70 years and above, irrespective of their socioeconomic status. Senior citizens are issued a separate Ayushman card as Ayushman Vay Vandana among senior citizens.

There is a provision under the NPHCE to provide accessible and free healthcare services to the elderly at all the levels of public healthcare system, primary, secondary, and tertiary levels through the following components of the Programme:

1. National Health Mission (NHM) component: Works towards improving access to dedicated Geriatric Out Patient services, Physiotherapy services, and IPD services at Ayushman Arogya Mandir-Health & Wellness Centres (AAM-HWC), Primary Health Centres (PHC), Community Health Centres (CHC) & District Hospitals throughout the country.

2. Tertiary Component: Under this component, the Govt. of India has established 2 apex National Centres for Ageing (NCAs) at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, and Madras Medical College (MMC), Chennai, and 17 Regional Geriatric Centres (RGCs) for delivery of specialized geriatric tertiary care services across the country.

The following provisions are made, under the NPHCE to ensure home-based care for senior citizens:

At the level of Sub Centres - Domiciliary visits for attention and care to home-bound / bedridden elderly persons and provide training to the family care providers in looking after the disabled elderly persons.

At the level of Community Health Centres - Domiciliary visits by the rehabilitation worker for bedridden elderly and counselling of the family members on their home-based care, added the Minister.