We now think about preventive healthcare and early detection: JP Nadda on India’s affordable healthcare system

Union Health and Family Welfare Minister JP Nadda on Thursday emphasized the country’s focus on affordable and accessible healthcare and shared his thoughts on India’s journey towards a strong and inclusive healthcare future. Addressing the FICCI HEAL 2025 event, the Minister said that through the health policies signed in 2017, the country aims to promote preventive healthcare and early detection. The Union Minister said that India developed a new health policy in 2017 after waiting since 1998, when it was last developed. He emphasized that this health policy was not decided or discussed only in the building of the Nirman Bhavan, but involved all stakeholders. He said that in 2017, we developed a new health policy after consultation with all stakeholders. The change that this has brought about is that we now think about preventive healthcare and early detection. When we talk about accessible healthcare, we have expanded the healthcare base by setting up 1.7 lakh Ayushman Arogya Mandirs for equitable, accessible and affordable healthcare. Speaking in detail about the medical schemes in the country, the Minister expressed happiness and said that Ayushman Bharat Yojana has become the world’s largest health coverage program. He said that the world’s largest health coverage program, which covers more than 62 crore people with a health cover of Rs 5 lakh, now includes special provisions for people above 70 years of age.