PIB Summary- 27th July, 2023 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - UPSC PDF Download

UNESCO’s Asia Pacific Cultural Heritage Award

Why in News?
Recently, the heritage Byculla Railway station which has been restored to its original glory, received the UNESCO award.

UNESCO’s Asia Pacific Cultural Heritage Award

• Supported by UNESCO and Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation since 2021.
• Introduced the ‘Special Recognition for Sustainable Development’ category in 2020, aligning with the UN 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.
• Recognizes private sector and public-private initiatives for conserving or restoring heritage structures, places, and properties in the region.

Byculla Railway Station

• Originally built in 1853.
• Witnessed the first train passing through it almost 150 years ago.
• Recently restored to its original Gothic architectural glory, preserving its heritage value.

Ayushman Bharat

Why in News?
Over a third of hospitals empanelled under Ayushman Bharat are inactive, official data showed, in a worrying trend for the world’s largest health insurance scheme aiming for universal health coverage.

About Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY)

• Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme having central sector component under Ayushman Bharat Mission anchored in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).
• It is an umbrella of two major health initiatives, namely Health and wellness Centres and National  Health Protection Scheme.
• The PM Jan Arogya Yojana beneficiaries get an e-card that can be used to avail services at an empanelled hospital, public or private, anywhere in the country, with which they can walk into a hospital and obtain cashless treatment.
• The scheme has certain pre-conditions by which it picks who can avail of the health cover benefit. While in the rural areas the list is mostly categorized on lack of housing, meagre income and other deprivations, the urban list of PMJAY beneficiaries is drawn up on the basis of occupation.
• AB PM-JAY is the flagship scheme of the Union government as a part of the Indian government’s National Health Policy.

National Health Protection Mission (AB-PMJAY)

• AB-PMJAY provides a defined insurance benefit cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year. This cover will take care of almost all secondary care and most of tertiary care procedures.
• To ensure that nobody is left out (especially women, children and elderly) there will be no cap on family size and age in the scheme.
• The beneficiaries can avail benefits in both public and empanelled private facilities. All public hospitals in the States implementing AB-PMJAY, will be deemed empanelled for the Scheme.
• Benefits of the scheme are portable across the country and a beneficiary covered under the scheme will be allowed to take cashless benefits from any public/private empanelled hospitals across the country.
• To control costs, the payments for treatment will be done on package rate (to be defined by the Government in advance) basis.

Health and Wellness Centres (AB-PMJAY)

• Under this 1.5 lakh existing sub centres will bring health care system closer to the homes of people in the form of Health and wellness centres.
• These centres will provide comprehensive health care, including for non-communicable diseases and maternal and child health services.

About the National Health Authority (NHA)

• National Health Authority (NHA) is the apex body responsible for implementing India’s flagship public health insurance/assurance scheme called “Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana”.
• The NHA been entrusted with the role of designing strategy, building technological infrastructure and implementation of “Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission” to create a National Digital Health Eco-system.
• National Health Authority (2019) is the successor of the National Health Agency, which was functioning as a registered society since 2018 (Not a Statutory body).
• NHA has been set-up to implement PM-JAY, as it is popularly known, at the national level.
• NHA is an attached office of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with full functional autonomy.
• NHA is also leading the implementation for Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission ABDM in coordination with different ministries/departments of the Government of India, State Governments, and private sector/civil society organizations.
• NHA is governed by a Governing Board chaired by the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare and it is headed by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), an officer of the rank of Secretary to the Government of India, who manages its affairs.