Question : Public Health Standards

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has laid down Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) guidelines in the country, if so, the details and the objectives thereof;

(b) whether the guidelines issued by the Government under the said standards are implemented in the country, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;

(c) the special measures taken up for the expansion of health services during the last two years; and

(d) the effective measures taken for its implementation in rural areas particularly for treatment of women and children in the rural areas?

ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND
FAMILY WELFARE
(SHRI FAGGAN SINGH KULASTE)
(a): The IPHS Revised Guidelines, 2012 can be accessed at http://nrhm.gov.in/nhm/nrhm/guidelines/indian-public-health-standards.html

These guidelines are intended to act as the main driver for continuous improvement in quality and serve as the bench mark for assessing the functional status of health facilities.

(b): Public Health being a state subject, IPHS guidelines are recommendatory in nature and not mandatory. The primary responsibility of bringing up facilities to IPHS norms is that of the State governments. Under NHM, financial support is provided to States, inter-alia, for strengthening facilities to IPHS.

(c) & (d): Some of the key measures taken up during the last two years under NHM for strengthening health services are given below:
(i) Guidelines for NHM free drugs and NHM free diagnostics services issued.




(ii) National Quality Assurance Framework for Health Facilities has been rolled out in November, 2014.

(iii) Mission Indradhanush was launched in December 2014 to reach 90 Lakh unimmunized/partially immunized children by 2020.

(iv) Operational Guidelines for Prevention, Screening and Control of Non-Communicable diseases: Hypertension, Diabetes and Common Cancer as part of comprehensive primary care have been shared with states/ UTs.

(v) Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Programme has been started in PPP mode.

(vi) Operational guidelines for bio-medical equipment maintenance program shared with the states.

(vii) Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) launched initially in six states and subsequently extended to the entire country.

(viii) Rotavirus vaccine has been introduced in Universal Immunization Programme.

(ix) Three new methods have been introduced in the National Family Planning Programme namely: Injectable Contraceptive, Centchroman pill (Chhaya), Progesterone-only pills (POP).

(x) Developed a centralized e-Rakt Kosh application for blood banks and blood storage units to automate work-flow and provide citizen-centric services related to blood banks. The pilot run of this application has been undertaken in a few States.

(xi) 500 Cartridge Based Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (CBNAAT) Machines have been introduced in addition to existing 121 machines to offer rapid quality diagnostics at the earliest. This is big leap in fight against TB, especially DR-TB.

A continuum of care approach has now been adopted under NRHM with the articulation of strategic approach to Reproductive Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent health (RMNCH+A). This approach brings focus on adolescents as a critical life stage and linkages between child survival, maternal health and family planning efforts.