One of the chief pillars of a nation’s human development index (HDI) is- Health. Health is critical for human dignity and essential for socio-economic growth. Health is not merely a basic requirement for an individual but also an integral component of human capital for the nation.
Having said that, every nation aims to provide quality healthcare to its citizens at an affordable cost through various initiatives and schemes.
GNRC Affordable Health Mission is one such noble initiative in Assam to facilitate affordable and accessible healthcare for all.
What is GNRC Affordable Health Mission?
With the aim of making quality healthcare available to everyone at affordable rates, GNRC Affordable Health Mission was founded by visionary, philanthropist Dr Nomal Ch Borah, which is a unique and ambitious scheme to minimize out-of-pocket medical expenses.
The primary objective being to create widespread awareness - through education and advocacy - about the adverse impact of lack of access to affordable healthcare on individuals, societies, and economies.
GNRC Affordable Health Mission aims to collaborate with members of society to catalyse; individual and collective actions that ensure every human being have access to affordable healthcare of the highest quality, delivered with empathy.
The Mission is an initiative to ensure access to quality healthcare services for every individual in the society irrespective of their financial background and is currently active in all of the 33 districts of Assam and 2 districts in West Bengal.
What are the services provided under the Mission?
Launched in 2017, the unique and ambitious model of the GNRC Affordable Health Mission thrives continuously at the service of people with its unique and standalone initiatives. The following are the activities carried out under the Affordable Health Mission.
- Free OPD Consultation
- Free Ambulance Service
- Free Treatment to Accident & Emergency patients for first 24 Hours
- Same day OPD to Prescription Service
- Free Transport Service
- Reduced Cost of Diagnostic Services
- Reduced Cost of Surgeries
How GNRC Affordable Health Mission is making Assam Healthier?
Lack of awareness about the implications of various diseases leads to many premature deaths in our country.
GNRC through its Affordable Health Mission (AHM) has formulated a unique and ambitious initiative called “Swasthya Mitra” aimed at providing local support to the communities for preventive and primitive health.
Swasthya Mitras visit the people of rural areas once in three months (at least) and mentor them in practicing various preventive health care measures like hand washing, how to purify water before drinking, food hygiene, dietary habits, the menace of alcohol, tobacco, etc. Also, the importance of taking care of lifestyle diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes, etc is communicated during their visits.
Through the Swasthya Mitras, GNRC Affordable Health Mission is on a revolutionary path to help and the needy at the earliest time possible, rather than waiting for an emergency situation to strike them, especially to the people living below the poverty line.
GNRC Affordable Health Mission- the successful journey so far
According to a latest report of Niti Aayog, India’s out-of-pocket expenditure on healthcare is more than 60 percent. This is considerably above the average for lower-middle-income countries.
Healthcare in India is beleaguered by the “Iron Triangle” of Access, Cost and Quality. Apart from access, one of the other major concerns is affordability.
While we continue to serve the people of Assam by providing Quality & Affordable Healthcare, its universal pledge of Healthcare for All has become a reality as it has been able to bring forth Free Healthcare Services so that financial hindrance does not restrain the people from accessing healthcare facilities.
On the other hand, GNRC Affordable Health Mission also serves excellent employment opportunity. The mission provides financial assistance and support to the trained personnel which allows them to live with dignity in society.
Affordable Health Mission of GNRC has been able to touch the lives of more than 1 million people in rural Assam since its inception by providing free OPD consultations, free X-rays, and free lab procedures to name a few.
Focusing on the belief that denying health is unjust, inhuman and economically enervating for society, GNRC Affordable Health Mission believes to establish the world as a better place to live, by building a society where ill-health is a rare event and a society in which every individual experience physical, mental and social well-being.
