With yellow-&-brown shades, health units set to be called ‘Ayushman Arogya Mandir’

Kolkata: The health and wellness centres in Bengal that were named ‘Suswasthya Kendra' are set to be branded as ‘Ayushman Arogya Mandir' (AAM). The brand transition will come with a colour change as the health facilities will be painted in metallic yellow and ethnic brown, as mandated by the National Health Mission. The chief municipal health officer, KMC, and chief medical officers of health of all districts have been instructed to ensure the change in the health units, funded under NHM, in their areas.The branding guidelines, issued on Thursday, specified the colour of the buildings and mandated the display of the six emblems of Ayushman Bharat and NHM. The norms also directed the AAM branding for block primary health units and block primary health centres being built. "Now that the decks are cleared, the brand changeover measures will be taken soon," said a state health official.The previous Bengal govt resisted the branding of health and wellness centres as AAM for over two years despite the health ministry directive in Nov 2023. Finally, in Jan last year, the earlier govt did agree to comply with NHM but the re-branding is being worked out now.A state health official said Bengal had 10,652 such health units, including 400-odd urban primary health centres (UPHCs), which played a key role in public health initiatives, from screening of non-communicable diseases, like hypertension and diabetes, to immunisation and maternal and child health. The official said these units were called ‘Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centre' in other states but Bengal called them ‘Suswasthya Kendra' and painted them blue and white, refusing to toe the health ministry guideline. The stand-off even led to the state accusing the Centre of blocking NHM funds. Health officials said the earlier govt had objected to the word, ‘mandir'.The buildings of the Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute (CNCI) Hazra campus are now freshly painted in yellow and brown. Despite the colours matching the AAM mandate, officials said CNCI's shades had nothing to do with it and that the painting started before the polls.