In recognition of special health care needs of elderly and to provide dedicated health care facilities to the elderly population, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is implementing National Programme for Health Care of the Elderly (NPHCE) at various levels of primary, secondary and tertiary health care facilities.
Objective of the programme is to provide accessible, affordable, comprehensive and dedicated health care services to elderly population. The programme has been sanctioned for implementation in 713 districts of the country. In addition, for tertiary health care facilities, 19 Regional Geriatric Centres and 2 National Centres for Ageing have been sanctioned under the programme.
Other National Programmes such as programmes for control of Blindness, Deafness, Non-Communicable Diseases, Mental health and Oral health also provide health care services to elderly. Health being a State subject, financial and technical support under the National Programmes is provided to States/UTs through the National Health Mission and tertiary care components, based on proposals received from them.
Further, elderly health care services are also covered in the expanded range of services under Ayushman Bharat – Health and Wellness Centres. Under the Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, which provides for health cover of Rs.5.00 lakh per family, to the poor and vulnerable families as per socio-economic caste census data, there is no restriction on age or family size and all members of the entitled family, including elderly, are covered.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has undertaken a Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) under the tertiary level activities of NPHCE to assess the health status of the elderly and to provide comprehensive longitudinal evidence base on health, economic, social and overall well-being of people aged 45 years and above in India. International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, a Deemed University, has been appointed as a National Nodal Agency for conducting the LASI survey in the country. The Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the University of Southern California (USC) are the collaborating institutions for providing technical support for the LASI. Draft report in respect of Wave-I of LASI has been received.
The Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare), Sh Ashwini Kumar Choubey stated this in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha here today.
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