The Union Cabinet has approved the continuation of the National Health Mission (NHM) for an additional five years, building on the mission’s impressive achievements over the past decade. During a Cabinet briefing on Wednesday, Union Minister Piyush Goyal highlighted that National Health Mission (NHM) had reached historic milestones in the last 10 years, including a significant increase in healthcare workforce participation and essential roles in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.
Goyal emphasized that nearly 12 lakh healthcare workers joined NHM between 2021 and 2022, contributing to India’s successful fight against COVID-19. The Cabinet’s approval follows a review of the mission’s progress over the past three years.
First launched in 2005 as the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), the scheme has been extended several times, with the most recent extension in 2021 lasting until 2026. Goyal noted that NHM has played a key role in transforming India’s healthcare system, especially in making healthcare more accessible and improving public health, which was vital during the pandemic.
He added that the mission’s contributions are steering India towards achieving its Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) health targets ahead of the 2030 deadline.
Progress and Achievements
Since its last extension in 2021, National Health Mission (NHM) has made notable strides in improving maternal and child health, eliminating diseases, and enhancing healthcare infrastructure. The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) fell by 25%, from 130 per 100,000 live births in 2014-16 to 97 per 100,000 in 2018-20. Similarly, the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) decreased from 39 per 1,000 live births in 2014 to around 28 in 2020. These improvements put India on track to meet its SDG targets for maternal and child health well before 2030.
Between FY22 and FY24, National Health Mission (NHM) recruited over 1.2 million healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, and public health managers, to further bolster the country’s health infrastructure. Additionally, the mission facilitated the administration of over 2.2 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses from January 2021 to March 2024.
Disease Control and Healthcare Programmes
NHM has been instrumental in reducing the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and improving surveillance efforts, particularly for tuberculosis (TB). Under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP), TB incidence dropped from 237 per 100,000 people in 2015 to 195 in 2023, with the mortality rate also falling from 28 to 22 during the same period.
The mission has also expanded key initiatives like the Measles-Rubella Elimination Campaign, the Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Programme, and the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission, contributing significantly to India’s health improvements.
