Indian Govt and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have agreed to a $300 million loan to boost India’s primary health care

The Indian government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) agreed a $300 million loan yesterday to reinforce and increase access to comprehensive primary health care in 13 states’ urban regions, benefiting over 256 million people, including 51 million from slum areas.

Mr. Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Finance’s Department of Economic Affairs, signed the agreement for the Government of India’s Strengthening Comprehensive Primary Health Care and Pandemic Preparedness in Urban Areas Program, while Mr. Takeo Konishi, Country Director of the Asian Development Bank’s India Resident Mission, signed for the Asian Development Bank.

Mr Mishra said after signing the loan agreement that the programme supports the Government of India’s key health initiatives – Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWC) and Pradhan Mantri Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana (PM-ASBY) – which has been renamed Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) – by increasing availability and access to quality primary.

The Ayushman Bharat programme, which began in 2018, intends to enhance access to comprehensive primary health care as part of India’s efforts to achieve universal health coverage. With the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic putting additional strain on the country’s health system, the government launched PM-ASBY in October 2021, later renamed PM-ABHIM, to take a long-term approach to system strengthening in order to prepare for future pandemics and other emergencies.

“In the face of the coronavirus pandemic’s challenges to India’s health system, ensuring equitable access to non-COVID-19 basic health care is vital,” Mr. Konishi stated. “By increasing institutional capacity, operation, and management of urban health and wellness centres at the central, state, and municipal levels, the initiative complements the government’s efforts to overcome health care gaps.”

Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and West Bengal are among the states where the initiative will be implemented. Aside from the pandemic response, the program’s actions encourage increasing use of urban HWCs by providing comprehensive primary health care packages that include noncommunicable diseases and community outreach services such as health care options education, particularly for women. Digital tools, quality assurance methods, and involvement and partnership with the private sector will be used to improve primary health care delivery and health information systems.

The ADB’s Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction has provided a $2 million technical assistance grant to enhance programme execution and coordination, capacity building, innovation, information sharing, and the deployment of scalable best practises across the healthcare system.