UP govt aims to improve health centres by Jan, impress voters before polls

Centres in 75 districts will treat people older than 30 years for diabetes, high blood pressure and some types of cancer, said government officials.

The Uttar Pradesh government aims to set up 2,000 health and wellness centres under Ayushman Bharat, the Rs 110 billion annual health insurance scheme for the poor, seeking to woo voters before Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

The centres in 75 districts are aimed by January 2019 and will treat people older than 30 years for diabetes, high blood pressure and some types of cancer, said government officials.

An estimated 200 state health sub-centres have been converted as specialty and wellness centres, expanding their scope to treat people.

UP chief secretary Anup Chandra Pandey, in a related development, has expressed displeasure at the slow pace of empanelling government and private hospitals under Ayushman Bharat, which is popularly called Modi-care after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched it earlier this year.

He asked officials to launch an empanelment drive to bring more hospitals under the ambit of Modicare, which promises no-frills medical cover of Rs 50,0000 per family per year.

About 1,000 hospitals in Uttar Pradesh have registered for Ayushman Bharat, and the state government had allocated Rs 4.40 billion as its 40% share for the project. The state is eyeing to empanel almost 2,000 hospitals.