Cabinet committee clears continuation of umbrella scheme for family welfare

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval for continuation of five schemes under the 'Umbrella Scheme for Family Welfare and Other Health Interventions' during the Fourteenth Finance Commission period 2017-18 to 2019-20, an official statement said.

An overall outlay of Rs 2381.84 crore for the scheme will be spent during the Fourteenth Finance Commission period and would be funded 100 per cent by the Central Government Budgetary support.

Components of social marketing of contraceptives, free supply of contraceptives are specifically targeted towards low income group people, however the overall scheme is not restricted to any particular group or category and has a mandate to cover the population throughout India, the statement said.

The five schemes listed in the proposal are crucial to attaining the goals and objectives laid out in National Health Policy (NHP) 2017, and international commitments in the form of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Swastha Nagrik Abhiyan (SNA) scheme has a very ambitious target of improving health seeking behaviour of the population through increased awareness and enhanced uptake of health services.

The other components as Health Surveys and Health Research (HSHR) would assist in keeping a tab on the progress of entire set of health programmes/schemes run by the government, assisting in timely course corrections.

The free and social marketing of contraceptives will enable better child and mother health, besides population stabilisation.

The target is to support the key goals of the National Health Policy 2017 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to which India is a signatory.

The attempt through Media/IEC outreach is to move from care for sickness to the concept of wellness by using 360 degree approach in conventional and social media, the statement read.

The target of the free distribution and social marketing of contraceptives is to improve the modern Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (mCPR), help family planning and reach population stabilisation. The target for NFHS is to provide reliable data on all health indicators.

All the five schemes -- Swastha Nagrik Abhiyan (SNA), Free Supply of Contraceptives, MIS Scheme now proposed as Health Surveys and Health Research (HSHR), Social Marketing of Contraceptives and Population Research Centres (PRCs) -- are Central Sector Schemes with 100 per cent funding from central government.