• The Government has approved National Health Policy, 2017 with goal of attainment of the highest possible level of health and well-being for all, through a preventive and promotive health care orientation in all developmental policies, and universal access to good quality health care services without anyone having to face financial hardship as a consequence.

• Aligned to such policy goal, the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM),as a submission of National Health Mission (NHM), was approved in May 2013. It aims to provide equitable and quality primary health care services to the population in urban areas with special focus on slum and vulnerable sections of the society.

• The National Health Policy 2017 envisages that for achieving the objective of having fully functional primary healthcare facilities especially in urban areas to reach under-serviced populations, the Government would collaborate with the private sector for operationalizing such health and wellness centres to provide a larger package of comprehensive primary health care across the country.

• Partnerships could be in areas of diagnostics services, ambulance services, safe blood services, rehabilitative services, palliative services, mental healthcare, telemedicine services etc.

• Public Health and hospitals being a State subject, responsibility to provide healthcare facilities including in urban areas, falls under the jurisdictionof respective State/UT Governments.

• Under the NHM, technical and financial support is provided to States/UTs for strengthening the healthcare systems including support for private sector partnership, based on the requirements posed by the States/UTs in their Programme Implementation Plans (PIPs) within their overall resource envelope.

Source:PIB