Parliament Question: Maternal and Newborn Healthcare under NHM

GOVERNMENTOFINDIA MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE DEPARTMENTOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE LOK SABHA UNSTARREDQUESTION NO. 1140 TOBE ANSWERED ON5TH DECEMBER, 2025 MATERNALAND NEWBORN HEALTHCAREUNDER NHM 1140#SHRICHAVDAVINOD LAKHAMSHI: Will the Minister of HEALTHANDFAMILYWELFARE be pleased tostate: (a) the details of the Government’s actions to improve maternal and newborn health related outcomesunderthe National HealthMission (NHM)in the country; (b) the details of the country’s achievements in elimination and control of major infectious diseases; (c) the details of the progress of Ayushman Bharat scheme in ensuring health coverage for all citizensinthe country; and (d) the details of the role of community participation in improving maternal and child health relatedoutcomesinthe country? ANSWER THE MINISTER OFSTATE IN THE MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SMT. ANUPRIYAPATEL) (a)Under the National HealthMission (NHM), various initiativesare implemented across the countrytoimprove maternal andnewborn healthoutcomes, include the followings:  Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) isa demand promotion andconditional cash transfer scheme for promotinginstitutional delivery.  JananiShishuSuraksha Karyakram(JSSK)entitlesallpregnantwomen delivering in public health institutions to have free and no-expense delivery, including caesarean section. Theentitlementsincludefree drugsandconsumables,free dietduring thestay, free diagnostics, free transportation and free blood transfusion, if required. Similar entitlementsare also inplace for sick infants.  Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) provides pregnant women a fixed day, free of cost, assured and quality antenatal checkup by a Specialist/Medical Officeronthe 9thdayof everymonth. ExtendedPMSMAstrategy focuses on quality antenatal care (ANC) for pregnant women, especially high-risk pregnant (HRP) women and individual HRP tracking with financial incentivization for the identified high-risk pregnant women andaccompanying AccreditedSocial Health Activists (ASHAs) for extra 3visits overand above the PMSMAvisit.  Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN) aims to provide assured, dignified, respectful and quality healthcare at no cost and zero tolerance for denial of services for every woman and newborn visiting a public health facility, to end all preventable maternalandnewborn deaths.  Optimizing Postnatal Care aims to strengthen the quality of post-natal care by laying emphasis on detection of danger signs in mothers and incentivization of ASHAs for prompt detection, referral & treatment of such high-risk postpartum mothers.  Monthly Village Health, Sanitation and Nutrition Day is an outreach activity at Anganwadi centers for provision of maternal and child care including nutrition in convergence with the IntegratedChild DevelopmentScheme (ICDS).  Outreach camps are provisioned to improve the reach of health care services, especially in tribal and hard-to-reach areas. This platform is used to increase awareness for Maternal andChild health services andcommunitymobilizationaswell astotrackhigh-risk pregnancies.  The establishment of Special Newborn Care Units (SNCUs) and Newborn Stabilization Units (NBSUs) under Facility Based Newborn Care (FBNC) program to provide specialized care to sick and small newborns at district and sub-district levels, addressing neonatalhealth complications.  The Mothers’ Absolute Affection (MAA) Program is implemented to promote breastfeeding practices, emphasizing the importance of early initiation of breastfeedingandexclusive breastfeedingfor first six months.  ASHAs conduct scheduled home visits under Home-Based Newborn Care (HBNC) and Home-Based Care of Young Children (HBYC), improving child-rearing practices and identifying sick newborns and young children for timely referral and care.  The SocialAwarenessandActionstoNeutralizePneumoniaSuccessfully(SAANS) initiative targets pneumonia-related childhood morbidity and mortality through enhancedawareness andearlyintervention.  Diarrhoea Campaign (Intensified Diarrhoea Fortnight/ STOP Diarrhoea Campaign) promotes the use of Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) andZinc to reduce diarrhoea-relatedmorbidity andmortalityamongunder5 children.  Anemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) strategy is implemented to reduce anemia among six beneficiaryage groups - children (6-59 months), children(5-9 years), adolescents(10- 19 years), pregnant and lactating women and women of reproductive age group (15- 49 years) in life cycle approach through implementation of six interventions via robust institutional mechanisms. (b): The Government of India has attained considerable achievements in eliminating and controllingof majorinfectious diseases, keyamongst which are asfollows: The incidence rate of TB in India has shown a 21% decline from 237 per lakh population in 2015 to 187 per lakh population in 2024 – over almost double the decline observed globally(at 12%) consecutively for last two years. TB mortality rate has also reduced by 25% from 28 per lakh population in 2015 to 21 per lakh population in 2024. TB treatment coverage in India increased by 39% from 53% in 2015to92% in2024, higherthanthe global average of 78%.  The country has achieved a reduction of 78.1% in malaria morbidity and 77.6% in malaria mortality between 2015 and 2024 with Annual Parasite Incidence (API) reducedto0.18in2024 comparedto 0.92 in2015.  The Kala-azar elimination target of less than one case per 10,000 population across 633 blocks in 54 districts of endemic states in 2023 has been achieved, well ahead of the 2030 global Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target and this status is maintainedtill date.  The Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of Japanese Encephalitis has reduced from 17.6% in 2014to7.1% in2024.  The Case Fatality Rate (death per 100 cases) for Dengue is sustained below 1% since 2008(0.13% in2024).  National Viral Hepatitis Control Program was launched in 2018 under the National Health Mission, aims to combat hepatitis and eliminate hepatitis C by 2030 and reduce morbidityandmortality due toothertypesof viral hepatitis.Since itsinception till September 2025, around 6.47 crore pregnant women have been screened for HBsAg, and nearly 2 lakh newborns born to hepatitis B-positive pregnant women have beenadministered HBIG.  Under Elimination of Vertical Transmission of HIV and Syphilis (EVTHS), the Vertical transmission rate has declined by around 74.5% between 2010 and 2024, compared to around 56.5% globally during the same period. Additionally, annual new HIV infections have declined by 48.7% and AIDS-related deaths by 81.4% in India between2010and2024. (c)Ayushman Bharat PradhanMantri Jan Arogya Yojana(AB-PMJAY) provideshealthcover of Rs 5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation to cover 60 crore beneficiaries corresponding to 12 Crore families constituting the bottom 40% of India’s population. In March 2024, approximately 37 lakh families of ASHAs, Anganwadi Workers (AWW)andAnganwadiHelpers(AWH)wereincludedunderthescheme. The scheme has also expanded to cover 6 crore senior citizens of age 70 years and above, belongingto4.5Crorefamilies,irrespectiveoftheirsocio-economicstatus,underABPM-JAY withVayVandanaCard.Asof31stOctober2025,morethan42.31croreAyushmanCardshave been created under the scheme. A total of 10.76 Crore hospital admissions amounting of Rs 1.56 lakh crore have been authorized. Additionally, 89.51 lakh Cards have been issued under Ayushman Vay Vandana Category for senior citizens, more than 41.34 lakh Ayushman cards have been created for ASHA/AWW/AWH categories and 32,403 hospitals have been empanelledunderthescheme.The primary healthcare teams at Ayushman Arogya Mandir (AAM), including frontline workers (ASHAs and ANMs), deliver comprehensive primary healthcare through 12 packages of services. These services include care in pregnancy and childbirth, neonatal and infant health care services, and childhood and adolescent health care services at the community level. At the community level, ASHAs serve as critical links between communities and the public health system by ensuring increased access tomaternal and child healthcareservices bymobilizing women for antenatalcheck-ups, institutional deliveries,and postnatal care,contributing tothe improvedmaternal andchild healthoutcomes. ASHAs also conduct home visits for identification of danger signs, counsel mothers on optimal feeding practices etc. under Home-Based Newborn Care (HBNC) and Home-Based Care for Young Children(HBYC) programmes. (d) Community-based platforms such as Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Committee (VHSNC), Jan Arogya Samiti (JAS), and MAS (Mahila Arogya Samiti) are utilized to facilitate and improve community participation and engagement. The Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Days (VHSND) platform is also utilized to deliver maternal and childhealthcare services at the communitylevel. *****