Ayushman Bharat scheme safety net for the very poorest, says Gates Foundation

NEW DELHI: India's policy on financial inclusion and sanitation are models for other countries to follow, whereas the government’s flagship health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat has the potential to transform the country’s healthcare scenario with the key challenge of turning potential into reality, says Mark Suzman, Chief Strategy Officer and President, Gates Foundation.
“India’s policy on financial inclusion with regards to Payment Banks, Jan Dhan Yojana and other such payment structures are models that other countries are copying. We have taken a lesson from how India is implementing these policies and think the rest of the world can learn from it,” Suzman, who is on a visit to meet global delegations from Europe, Africa and other countries to deliberate on such policies, told TOI.
Calling government’s flagship health insurance programme Ayushman Bharat as a “safety net for the very poorest”, Suzman said the scheme has the potential to bring in a major change to the country’s health scenario as it not only complements the government’s initiatives in primary healthcare such as immunisation, sanitation and maternal care, but also fills in a major financial gap for the poor making tertiary care accessible for the poor.
“The scheme is providing certain resources, which historically might have bankrupted certain families while paying for emergency care. This is very important because it helps in poverty reduction and provides a safety net for the very poorest,” Suzman said.
Through Ayushman Bharat, the government is targeting to increase healthcare accessibility while reducing out-of-pocket expenditure on health, which constitutes over 60% of health financing in India with many still deprived of tertiary care because of its high cost.
Latest government data shows, nearly 5 lakh patients have sought complex tertiary care procedures including surgical oncology, radiation oncology, cardiac bypass and total knee replacements under Ayushman Bharat since its launch in September.
The scheme, implemented by the National Health Agency, has also created a strong database and information technology backbone with national statistics on patients, disease burden and health infrastructure, which forms an important component to address the needs through an overarching policy, Suzman said.
Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his initiative to address the problem of sanitation, Suzman said, “It has been an encouraging partnership overall with PM Modi and his government starting with the Swachh Bharat programme where we have been significant partners. Sanitation is a major priority for the Gates foundation. Its been rare and unusual to find a global leader who is ready to make sanitation a national priority but we understand he has.”
However, the country needs to adopt modern methods like faecal sludge management to address the problem, he said.
Suzman also stressed the need for the government to ramp up investments to meet the targets set by it. “India still spends comparatively less proportion of its GDP – a little over 1% of its GDP – on health, which is lower than many other countries with similar capital returns and so we would certainly like to see more investments in that space but also more effective investment,” he said.
He added, the government needs strong commitment to tackle the burden of communicable diseases and malnutrition which continues to pose a significant challenge for the country, despite its progress in the direction.