NATIONAL RURAL HEALTH MISSION

NATIONAL RURAL HEALTH MISSION

The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) has been launched with a view to bringing about dramatic improvement in the health system and the health status of the people, especially those who live in the rural areas of the country. The Mission seeks to provide universal access to equitable, affordable and quality health care which is accountable at the same time responsive to the needs of the people, reduction of child and maternal deaths as well as population stabilization, gender and demographic balance. In this process, the Mission would help achieve goals set under the National Health Policy and the Millennium Development Goals.

To achieve these goals NRHM will:
Facilitate increased access and utilization of quality health services by all.
Forge a partnership between the Central, state and the local governments.
Set up a platform for involving the Panchayati Raj institutions and community in the management of primary health programme and infrastructure.
Provide an opportunity for promoting equity and social justice.
Establish a mechanism to provide flexibility to the states and the community to
promote local initiatives.
Develop a framework for promoting inter-sectoral convergence for promotive
and preventive health care.

The Vision of the Mission
To provide effective healthcare to rural population throughout the country with
special focus on 18 states, which have weak public health indicators and/or
weak infrastructure.
18 special focus states are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chattisgarh,
Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur , Mizoram,
Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, Orissa , Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura,
Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh.
To raise public spending on health from 0.9% GDP to 2-3% of GDP, with
improved arrangement for community financing and risk pooling.
To undertake architectural correction of the health system to enable it to
effectively handle increased allocations and promote policies that strengthen
public health management and service delivery in the country.
To revitalize local health traditions and mainstream AYUSH into the public
health system.
Effective integration of health concerns through decentralized management at
district, with determinants of health like sanitation and hygiene, nutrition, safe
drinking water, gender and social concerns.
Address inter State and inter district disparities.
Time bound goals and report publicly on progress.
To improve access to rural people, especially poor women and children to
equitable, affordable, accountable and effective primary health care.

The Objectives of the Mission
Reduction in child and maternal mortality
Universal access to public services for food and nutrition, sanitation and hygiene and universal access to public health care services with emphasis on services addressing women’s and children’s health and universal immunization.
Prevention and control of communicable and non-communicable diseases, including locally endemic diseases.
Access to integrated comprehensive primary health care.
Population stabilization, gender and demographic balance.
Revitalize local health traditions & mainstream AYUSH.
Promotion of healthy life styles.

The core strategies of the Mission
Train and enhance capacity of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) to own, control and manage public health services.
Promote access to improved healthcare at household level through the female health activist (ASHA).
Health Plan for each village through Village Health Committee of the Panchayat.
Strengthening sub-centre through better human resource development, clear quality standards, better community support and an untied fund to enable local planning and action and more Multi Purpose Workers (MPWs).
Strengthening existing (PHCs) through better staffing and human resource
development policy, clear quality standards, better community support and an
untied fund to enable the local management committee to achieve these
standards.
Provision of 30-50 bedded CHC per lakh population for improved curative care to a normative standard. (IPHS defining personnel, equipment and management standards, its decentralized administration by a hospital management committee and the provision of adequate funds and powers to enable these committees to reach desired levels).Preparation and implementation of an inter sector District Health Plan prepared by the District Health Mission, including drinking water, sanitation, hygiene and nutrition.
Integrating vertical Health and Family Welfare programmes at National, State,
District and Block levels.
Technical support to National, State and District Health Mission, for public health management Strengthening capacities for data collection, assessment and review for evidence based planning, monitoring and supervision.
Formulation of transparent policies for deployment and career development of
human resource for health.
Developing capacities for preventive health care at all levels for promoting healthy life style, reduction in consumption of tobacco and alcohol, etc.
Promoting non-profit sector particularly in underserved areas.

Programmes
Reproductive and Child Health Programme – II (RCH-II) and the Janani
Suraksha Yojana (JSY) launched.
Polio eradication programme intensified – cases reduced from 134 in 2004-05 to 63 (up to now).
Sterilization compensation scheme launched.
Accelerated implementation of the Routine Immunization programme taken up. Catch up rounds taken up this year in the States of Bihar, Jharkhand and Orisaa.
Ground work for introduction of JE vaccine completed.
Ground work for Hepatitis vaccines to all States completed.
Auto Disabled Syringes introduced throughout the country.
State Programme Implementation Plans for RCH II appraised by the National
Programme Coordination Committee set up by the Minstry. Funds to the
extent of 26.14% i.e. Rs. 1811.74 crore have been released under NRHM
Outlay.


Mission on nursing education:
The Mission would support strengthening of Nursing Colleges wherever required, as the demand for ANMs and Staff Nurses and their development is likely to increase significantly. This would be done on the basis of need assessment, identification of possible partners for building capacities in the governmental and non governmental sectors in each of the States/UTs, and ways of financing such support in a sustainable way. Special attention would be given to setting up ANM training centres in tribal blocks which are currently para-medically underserved by linking up with higher secondary schools and existing nursing institutions