National Health Mission (NHM), Objectives and Key Achievements

Context: Recently, an assessment report of the National Health Mission from 2021-2024, was presented to the Union Cabinet.

About National Health Mission (NHM)

• It was launched in 2005 as the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).
• It was expanded in 2012 with the addition of the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) under the unified NHM umbrella.
• Objective: To improve healthcare delivery in rural and urban areas, particularly focusing on maternal and child health and communicable diseases.
• Implementation: NHM provides financial and technical assistance to States/UTs for healthcare service delivery.

Key Achievements of NHM (2021-24)

Expansion of Human Resources: FY 2021-22: 2.69 lakh workers, including 90,740 CHOs (community health officers).

Reduction in Maternal and Child Mortality Rates

• Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR): Declined by 83% since 1990 (higher than the global decline of 45%).
• Under-5 Mortality Rate (U5MR): Reduced from 45 (2014) to 32 (2020).
• Infant Mortality Rate (IMR): Decreased from 39 (2014) to 28 (2020).
• Total Fertility Rate (TFR): Dropped from 2.3 (2015) to 2.0 (2020).

Disease Control and Elimination

• Tuberculosis (TB): Incidence reduced from 237 per 1,00,000 population (2015) to 195 (2023). The mortality rate decreased from 28 to 22 (2015-2023).
• Malaria: Cases and deaths declined by 13.28% and 3.22%, respectively, in 2021 compared to 2020.
• Sickle Cell Anemia: Screened over 61 crore individuals under the National Sickle Cell Anemia Elimination Mission launched in 2023.
• Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan: Supported by 56 lakh Ni-kshay Mitra volunteers, benefiting 9.4 lakh TB patients.

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