Niti suggests PPP model infra for treatment of non-communicable diseases at district hospitals

Niti Aayog Wednesday suggested a public private partnership model for setting up additional infrastructure for treatment of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) at district hospitals at reasonable costs.

Under the PPP model, the private sector would be provided space for setting up facilities for treatment of cardiac, oncological, and pulmonary diseases by the state governments within the premise of existing district hospitals.

Releasing the guidelines for 'Public-Private Partnership for Non-Communicable Diseases', Niti Aayog member V K Paul said the cost of treatment under the PPP model would be the same as specified under the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY).

As per the guidelines, the private partner will invest in upgrading, building and deploying human resources.

"It is expected that the NCD care facility co-located at the district hospital will contribute towards improving access to the above mentioned NCD services at the government hospitals at the district level," the guidelines document said.

"All services in the NCD care facility will be offered by a single entity, be it a trust, company, consortium etc under PPP arrangement," it added.

According to the guidelines document, the PPP model will specialised NCD services available and accessible at the district level.

It will also ensure availability of specialist at the district level, the document added.

Paul said India needs more investments, as the supply side issues in secondary and tertiary care are looming, adding, "We are relying on time-tested models and applying them to the area of NCDs, which have been neglected for a long time."
Noting that a large number of district hospitals have not been able to provide services for NCDs, the document said, "District hospitals as an institution needs to strengthening particularly to shift focus from reproductive and child health services and communicable diseases to provide services for NCDs by leveraging the private sector particularly in unserved areas."