VIJAYAWADA: The Centre has sanctioned 110 Ayush Health & Wellness Centres (HWCs) for Andhra Pradesh under the National Ayush Mission (NAM). However, no HWC is functioning in the State like in Punjab, Meghalaya, Tripura and Ladakh.
This was revealed by Union Minister for Ayush Sarbananda Sonowal to a question raised by MPs Bhavana Pundlikrao Gawali and Gajendra Singh Patel in the Lok Sabha on Friday. When it comes to the neighbouring States of Andhra Pradesh, 421 out of the sanctioned 421 HWCs are functioning in Telangana, 250 out of 350 in Tamil Nadu, 176 out of 376 in Karnataka and 90 out of 250 in Odisha, he said.
The Union Minister also informed that eight Ayush hospitals are in Andhra Pradesh out of the total 3,801 in the country as of April 2021. The highest number of 1,982 hospitals are located in Uttar Pradesh. The neighbouring Telangana has 11 hospitals. Two integrated Ayush hospitals approved under NAM from 2014-15 to 2021-22 are located at Kakinada and Visakhapatnam of AP.
Ayush systems advocate the holistic wellness approach aiming at the prevention of diseases and promotion of health and wellbeing. The main objectives are to establish a holistic wellness model based on Ayush principles and practices to empower the masses for self-care to reduce the disease burden, out of pocket expenditure and provide informed choices to the needy public. The healthcare facilities to be upgraded as Ayush HWCs are Ayush dispensaries and sub-health centres.
The Ministry of Ayush has been given the task of developing 12,500 HWCs in the country in a phased manner in consultation with the States and Union Territories and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Speaking to TNIE, J Nivas, Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare of AP, said the sanctioned 110 HWCs will be set up by the end of January 2023. “We are planning to recruit staff and develop infrastructure for more than 300 HWCs in the State,” he added.