VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday launched the upgraded YSR Aarogyasri scheme that would facilitate free treatment of up to Rs 25 lakh for the beneficiaries. The eligibility criteria was also tweaked so that people with an annual income of up to Rs 5 lakh can avail of benefits under the scheme. He also launched the distribution of new YSR Aarogyasri cards.
Terming the initiative revolutionary, Jagan said 4.25 crore people from 1.48 crore families would be covered under the scheme. “The enhanced scheme will prevent people from falling into a debt trap due to the increasing cost of medical treatment,” he remarked.
Stating that a public awareness campaign will begin on Tuesday, he said MLAs, staff of village secretariats, volunteers, ANMs and ASHA workers will explain to people about how to avail of benefits under the scheme which provides free treatment for 3,257 ailments and procedures at 2,513 Aarogyasri-empanelled hospitals. He added that 85 super speciality hospitals in Hyderabad, 35 in Bengaluru and 16 in Chennai also provide free treatment under the scheme.
Drawing a comparison in the governance of the ruling YSRC and the previous TDP regime, Jagan said as many as 53 lakh people have been treated in the last four-and-a-half years as against 22.32 lakh under the previous regime. Asserting that the government is committed to turning the State into ‘Aarogya’ (healthy) Andhra Pradesh, the Chief Minister said, “The government has gradually expanded the network of medical facilities every year”.
“The number of 104 and 108 vehicles has also gone up to 936 from 226 under the TDP rule. As many as 17 new medical colleges are coming up in the State in addition to the existing 11 colleges. Vacancies for 53,126 doctors, nurses and paramedical staff were filled.”
Pointing out that bone marrow and heart transplantation were also brought under Aarogyasri, the Chief Minister highlighted that his government has so far spent Rs 1,900 crore only on cancer patients with no cap on treatment expenditure as against the Rs 5 lakh limit imposed during the TDP regime.
“While the previous TDP government spent Rs 5,900 crore on Aarogyasri, we have been spending an average of Rs 4,100 crore every year. We are also spending Rs 1,309 crore under Aarogya Aasara alone,” he added.
Further, he said that there is only a 3.95% shortage of specialist doctors in the State as against the national average of 61%. He claimed that there is no scarcity of nurses and lab technicians in the State. Besides making 562 types of medicines available at government hospitals, he said the official machinery is taking steps to ensure World Health Organisation-approved medicines are provided to people’s doorsteps with the cooperation of the postal department.
Stating that Andhra Pradesh is the only State in the country to have village health clinics, he explained that 10,032 such clinics, equipped with CHOs, ANMs and three to four ASHA workers, are available in villages. He added that 105 kinds of medicines and 14 types of diagnostic tests are being made available for patients, and family doctors visit these villages twice every month, taking the preventive healthcare system to the next level.
Phase-2 of Aarogya Suraksha from Jan 1
The Chief Minister also announced that the second phase of the Jagananna Aarogya Suraksh will begin on January 1. He said 60,27,843 people were examined and 4,56,018 diagnostic tests were conducted under the first phase of the programme. Health Minister Vidadala Rajini, Chief Secretary Dr KS Jawahar Reddy, Special CS (medical and health) MT Krishna Babu and other senior officials were also present on the occasion.