Cabinet nod for fund-strapped urban health drive

NEW DELHI: The Cabinet cleared a financially-pruned National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) on Wednesday — a move that will help the UPA spruce up its poll manifesto with another ‘achievement’ to showcase in the next year’s parliamentary polls.
The current financial allocation for the mission stands at a paltry Rs 1 crore for this fiscal. But, the mission, which is now treated as a part of the overarching National Health Mission (NHM), was cleared by the Cabinet after health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, building on assurance from the finance ministry, told his colleagues that the ministry would mobilize much larger quantum of funds for the ‘sub-mission’.
Sources said the reallocation of funds within the overall NHM budget could permit between Rs 500 crore and Rs 1,000 crore to be invested in the scheme, which the UPA has been promising to launch since 2005.
The scheme was initially touted to be the urban equivalent of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), but with government’s priorities tilted this year towards fiscal prudence it got curtailed.
In its full bloom the mission is to provide for primary healthcare needs of the urban poor in 779 cities and towns with more than 50,000 population and cover around 7.75 crore people. Its primary focus is to be on reduction in infant mortality rate (IMR) and maternal mortality ratio (MMR), and also aims to provide universal access to reproductive healthcare.
Currently, it has been decided to set up one urban primary health centre for every 50,000-60,000 population. Along with this, one urban community health centre is envisaged for every five to six urban public health centres. The mission will also grow to provide one nursing midwife for every 10,000 people, and one accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) for every 200 to 500 households.
While the 12th five-year Plan provides for Rs 16,955 crore as central government’s share for the urban health mission, NUHM is unlikely to get anywhere close to the required annual financial support in the current fiscal.
Sources said with the existing fiscal limitations, the big-ticket provisions of the mission are unlikely to be taken up this year. But a formal clearance from the Cabinet will permit the health ministry to lay down elaborate protocols and guidelines, engage state governments and ride piggyback on the resources of the NRHM till more funds are made available for the NUHM.