Over 1.3 crore people screened for non-communicable diseases at HWCs

Over 10,000 Health and Wellness Centres have become operational since April 2018 under the Ayushman Bharat scheme and more than 1.3 crore people have been screened in these centres for non-communicable diseases like hypertension, diabetes and cancer.

The first Health and Wellness Centre (HWC) was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh on April 14, 2018.

"Since then, 10,252 HWCs have been operationalised. The states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala lead the way with the highest number of HWCs under the Ayushman Bharat scheme," according to an official statement from the Union Health Ministry.

Andhra Pradesh has 1,361 HWCs, 1,318 in Tamil Nadu, 912 in Uttar Pradesh, 700 in Karnataka and 678 in Kerala, it stated.

A total of 1,33,84,332 people, 30 years of age and above, have been screened for non-communicable diseases at these HWCs.

People have also been screened for oral, breast and cervical cancers and are being treated for the same.

The Ayushman Bharat scheme has two components. The first is the provision of providing comprehensive primary care at a nearby facility, for which the Centre will transform 1.5 lakh existing sub-health centres (SHCs) and primary health centres (PHCs) into HWCs.

The other component is the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana which aims to provide cashless health insurance up to Rs 5 lakh per family annually, covering 500 million poor citizens.