Transforming rural health: Ayush overhauls health facilities on NABH standards

Srinagar, Dec 09: Ayush Health and Wellness Centres across Jammu and Kashmir have been overhauled after witnessing improvement in the infrastructure adding to the public health care in the rural areas.
Ayush officials said they are improving healthcare services and addressing infrastructure gaps at Ayush Health and Wellness Centers.
Director AYUSH J&K, Dr Mohan Singh, said that Ayush Dispensaries have been upgraded into Ayush Health and Wellness Centres across Jammu and Kashmir besides their infrastructure was improved in terms of basic facilities.
“All the basic diagnostic facilities have been kept available in all the Ayush Health and Wellness Centres. The first aid facilities have also been improved across facilities,” he said.
The director said to get the Ayush Health and Wellness Centres certified by the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers till date some 19 Ayush Health and Wellness Centres have been accessed out of which five are certified and 14 are in the process and this is an achievement for the department.
The Director AYUSH said the initiatives are taken under the guidance and support of the Secretary Health & Medical Education Department, Bhupinder Kumar.
The department is currently undergoing the necessary procedures to achieve NABH accreditation. The director highlighted that the Ayush Health and Wellness Centers now have provisions for essential medicines.
Singh said that some 100 more centres are targeted to be registered for NABH certification by the end of the Financial Year 2023-24 i.e. up to March 2024.
“NABH provides accreditation to healthcare organizations in a non-discriminatory manner regardless of their ownership, legal status, size and degree of independence. The objective of NABH standards is to improve healthcare quality and patient safety,” he said.
The director emphasized that the certification positively enhances patient care quality. Once certified, there will be a growing demand for additional facilities in these centers.
“We provide quality care at the doorsteps of people. Now people have Yoga instructors at the centres that provide free yoga services to the community and for the patients suffering from non-communicable diseases,” the director said.
There are 452 operational Health and Wellness Centers. Earlier, these used to be in shambles and now they have got a makeover as the facilities have been improved.
Singh stated that the initiative will transform service delivery and encourage the public to access comprehensive primary health services, encompassing promotion, prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation.
Since April 2023, the director reported that over 3.2 million patients have accessed a variety of Ayush consultations at Ayush Health and Wellness Centers.
“Through institutional consultations, public health outreach programs being implemented at ground level by Ayush Health & Wellness centres, 41 lakh beneficiaries were provided consultations based on Ayush principles and practices for the year 2022-23,” he said.
Pertinently, some of the programs like Anaemia Mukt Bharat, Non-Communicable Diseases Mukt Bharat, Promotion of Millets under Eat Right Campaign, Nasha Mukt Bharat are being organized by Ayush medical and paramedical staff and these are gaining momentum.
He said that to enhance the popularization of Yoga, Ayush Health and Wellness Centres are providing free therapeutic and wellness yoga sessions through yoga instructors.
Over 250 yoga instructors are currently at Ayush H&WCs, and an additional 700 will soon join to enhance the provision of comprehensive yoga services.