150,000 wellness centres to be set up under Ayushman Bharat: Choubey

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Nearly 150,000 health and wellness centres will be set up across the country under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, benefitting about 550 million people, Union Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey said here on Saturday.

The minister, who is also the local MP, was speaking after inauguration of the first two health and wellness centres, set up under the schem, in Bihar - one in Buxar town and the other in Nawanagar panchayat.

He said these centres were being set up at panchayat level as the scheme intends to bring medical facilities to the remotest villages.

These centres would be equipped with facilities like telemedicine which would enable patients to get advice from specialists without having to travel away from home.

Other facilities to be offered at these health and wellness centres include obstetrics, dentistry, psychiatry, geriatrics and diagnosis of ailments like blood pressure, diabetes and common types of cancer, a release quoted Choubey as saying.

Yoga lessons will also be offered in the vicinity of these centres so that people get a chance to incorporate the discipline into their lifestyle, he added.