Write a note on the National Health Assurance Mission (NHAM)

Soon, regulator for health outreach

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday said the government would institutionalise a
regulatory authority with full powers to oversee enforcement of all-round quality standards and
consumer protection under the National Health Assurance Mission (NHAM).
NHAM is going to be the biggest-ever health outreach with universal health insurance as a
strong component. While quantitatively India will leapfrog into a new era, quality should not be
compromised. Quality and quantity are not mutually exclusive, the Minister said in his keynote
address here at a two-day national convention on quality in public health.
The Minister said the expert body headed by Professor Ranjit Ray Choudhury had recommended
that the NHAM should be accountable to the people for deficiencies in delivery. Safety,
effectiveness and positive patient experience would be key concerns, the Minister pointed out.
He also highlighted the importance of seeking patients feedback so those in charge can derive
objective lessons and improve the delivery of services, he added.

answers1. With a view to reduce the out of pocket spending on health care by the common man,
National Health Assurance Mission (NHAM) is going to be rolled out. It would be biggest-ever
health outreach with universal health insurance as a strong component.
NHAM visions to provide accessible and affordable health care to every citizen. However, the
government has not specified how health-care reforms will be achieved or how measures will be
undertaken to achieve the NHAM.
It also aims to address the causal factors responsible for ill health; resorting to health in all
policies approach with increasing access to basic services such as water and toilets, nutrition,
public health at the community level, and promotive health. It would be accountable to people
for deficiencies in delivery, with a supplementary regulatory authority to oversee enforcement of
the norms.
Since, India spends only 104% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on publicly funded health,
which is one of the lowest in the world and that nearly 70% of overall health spending is incurred
by private out-of-pocket expenditure, the comprehensive NHAM aiming at a complete overhaul
of the health system is a welcome step.

2. National Health Assurance Mission seeks to achieve following:1). Accountability - for service delivered to the customer. Customer satisfaction is the most
important component of this mission.
2).Reduce out of pocket expenditure of the people especially poor who get trapped in vicious
cycle of poverty and disease.
3). Universal Insurance to people which provides medical security to people particularly
vulnerable groups like child, mother, female, old and poor.
4). Affordability, Accessibility and equity in medical service delivery.
5).Enforcement of Quality and standards like Indian Primary health standards with the help of
regulatory or over sight agency.
The initiative is welcome as it aims to achieve affordable and quality health service but it needs
to be supplemented by convergence of scheme like Swacch bharat abhiyaan, national health
mission etc. Also, timely funding and human resource too is needed for success of the
programme.