Flagship Health Schemes Reducing Disease And Building Prosperity, Says PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that flagship programmes such as Ayushman Bharat, POSHAN Abhiyaan and Swachh Bharat are not only reducing illness but also contributing to building human capital.

On the social media platform, the PMO shared an article authored by Dr Devi Prasad Shetty, Chairman of Narayana Health. The article argued that government initiatives have turned healthcare into a tool for economic change.

The post read, “Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty writes that India’s healthcare is now a key driver of economic growth. Initiatives like Ayushman Bharat, POSHAN Abhiyaan and Swachh Bharat are reducing disease, protecting household savings and building human capital.”

It further noted, “Seeing health as an investment, not a cost, is boosting governance and prosperity.”

In the article, Dr Shetty, a renowned cardiologist, explained that healthcare policy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shifted focus from welfare to nation-building. The aim is to create a ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047.

Pointing to progress under these health initiatives, he said they demonstrate how ‘sound healthcare policy is also sound economic policy’.

He highlighted that Ayushman Bharat, launched in 2018, has grown into the world’s largest state-funded health insurance scheme.

Covering more than 55 crore vulnerable citizens, it has expanded access to affordable care while easing financial burdens.

The scheme has helped reduce Out-of-Pocket Expenditure (OOPE) through greater social security and primary care investment.

According to Health Ministry figures, by June this year, over 9.84 crore hospital admissions valued at more than Rs 1.40 lakh crore had been approved under the AB PM-JAY scheme.

To address malnutrition among mothers and children, the government rolled out POSHAN Abhiyaan in 2018.

Dr Shetty noted that better early-life nutrition will yield long-term dividends in higher productivity.

Meanwhile, the Swachh Bharat Mission’s sanitation drive has delivered millions of toilets across rural and urban areas, sharply reducing open defecation.

This in turn has lowered water-borne diseases and, according to estimates, saved 60,000–70,000 infant lives annually.

“The transformation in India’s health sector since 2014 shows how a government can harness public policy to achieve both equity and economic dynamism. By recasting healthcare as a pillar of productivity, Modi has shifted the narrative from charity to investment,” Dr Shetty wrote.

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