New Delhi, July 22 (IANS) Hospital admissions worth Rs 7,704 crore have been availed as part of the maternal and child health packages under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), said Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel on Tuesday, in the Parliament during the ongoing Monsoon Session.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Patel stated that AB-PMJAY’s Health Benefit Package 2022 (launched in 2022) saw more than 72 lakh mother and child hospital admissions.

“Under the Health Benefit Package 2022 (HBP 2022) of AB-PMJAY, 28 packages related to maternal health and 13 packages related to child health are available. As on date, 72.13 lakhs hospital admissions have been availed under these packages, amounting to Rs 7,704.37 crores,” Patel said.

AB-PMJAY is currently operational in 35 States and Union Territories, including the recent onboarding of Odisha and the National Capital Territory of Delhi.

Patel noted that the government has undertaken various initiatives and measures under the National Health Mission (NHM) to improve maternal and newborn health outcomes across the country.

This includes Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK), Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA), Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN), optimising postnatal care, monthly village health, sanitation, and nutrition day, the establishment of Special Newborn Care Units (SNCUs) and Newborn Stabilisation Units (NBSUs), and campaigns to prevent pneumonia, diarrhoea, and Anemia Mukt Bharat (AMB).

Further, Patel also listed the importance of ASHAs in boosting maternal and child healthcare in the country.

“The primary healthcare teams at Ayushman Arogya Mandir (AAM), including frontline workers (ASHAs and ANMs), deliver comprehensive primary healthcare through 12 packages of services,” she said.

These services include care in pregnancy and childbirth, neonatal and infant health care services, and childhood and adolescent health care services at the community level.

At the community level, ASHAs serve as critical links between communities and the public health system by ensuring increased access to maternal and child healthcare services by mobilising women for antenatal check-ups, institutional deliveries, and postnatal care, contributing to improved maternal and child health outcomes, the MoS said.

ASHAs also conduct home visits for identification of danger signs, counsel mothers on optimal feeding practices, etc., under Home-Based Newborn Care (HBNC) and Home-Based Care for Young children (HBYC) programmes, Patel said.

–IANS

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