The Union Minister in his recent knowledge papers released during NATEv2018 has stated that over 4,500 primary health centres have now been converted to wellness centres to make healthcare more accessible and affordable for the poor.

Union minister Ashwini Choubey has said 4,500 primary health centres have been transformed into wellness centres and rest of the 1.5 lakh such units will be similarly developed to make healthcare accessible and affordable for the poor. The government has taken several initiatives, such as National Health Policy and Ayushman Bharat, which would fulfil the dream of a Healthy India by 2022, the Minister of State for Health said.

Choubey released two knowledge papers on Healthcare issues at NATEv2018 -- the 5th Annual event of Healthcare Federation of India (NATHEALTH). "The focus of the government is to transform primary healthcare to help the underserved section of the society and 1.5 lakh primary health centres would be transformed into well-equipped wellness centres. "Within a very short span of time, we have transformed 4,500 such centres into wellness units and efforts are on to transform all soon," the minister said.

Choubey said the Prime Minister's Office and the Union Health Ministry are working to implement a full-proof and robust National Health Protection Scheme, and very soon all the modalities will be finalised. The scheme presents an opportunity for the stakeholders to redefine and reorganise themselves, and adopt new components of people, process and technology in their business models, in order to develop a robust health economy, he said.

The Knowledge Papers highlighted the disruptive trends, such as rising patient consumerism, expansion of the continuum of care, a shift towards quality-based care, increasing patient participation, the use of technology in delivering care, and increasing insurance penetration, being witnessed by the Indian health economy.