The much-awaited National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) will be launched in the next three months to specifically meet the health needs of urban poor, Health Ministry sources said.
They said a revised Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) note for approval in this respect was being sent incorporating the concerns raised by the Planning Commission. After the EFC approval, the proposal will go to the Cabinet.
"The NUHM will be launched in the next three months," the sources close on the heels of the Prime Minister announcing the Mission in Puducherry.
The Mission is expected to cover cities and towns having population of over 50,000 people. This would come to around 779 cities including Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.
Health Ministry officials said the revised EFC note for the Mission had been prepared after the Planning Commission suggested the possibility of extending NRHM to urban areas.
"But that was not feasible because the health delivery demands of rural and urban areas are very different. So we are preparing a new note for approval. This addresses the Planning Commission concerns," the sources said.
The NUHM which envisages USHAs (Urban Social Health Activists on the lines of ASHAs in villages) is important considering urban population is the fastest growing segment of India's population.
Provisional Census 2011 data showed that for the first time since Independence, the absolute increase in population was more in urban areas that in rural areas.
At present, rural population in India is 68.84 per cent (down from 72.19 per cent in 2001 Census) as against 31.16 per cent urban population. (More)
