National Urban Health Mission

The National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) was approved by the cabinet on 1^st May 2013, as a submission to the National Health Mission (NHM).

The National Urban Health Mission aims to address the urban poor’s health issues by promoting equal access to available health services by rationalizing and improving the current capacity of health care providers to enhance the health status of the urban poor.

Implemented by the Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Human Resource Development, Urban Development, and Women’s and Child Development Ministries.

By facilitating their access to quality primary health care, the National Urban Health Mission seeks to improve the health status of urban communities, particularly slum dwellers and other vulnerable areas.

AIM

The objective of the National Urban Health Mission would be to improve the health status of the general urban population, but in particular of the poor and other disadvantaged sectors, by facilitating equitable access to quality health care through a revised public health system, partnerships, and community-based mechanisms, with the active participation of local urban authorities.

1. The availability of resources to provide the urban poor with essential primary health care.
2. To meet the diverse health care needs of the urban poor and other unprotected industries, a city-based specific urban health care system is required.
3. Partnership with various NGOs.
4. Promotion of healthier ways of living.
5. To boost the urban population’s health status.
6. The thrust of public health on sanitation, safe drinking water, regulation of vectors, etc.
7. The poor urban population lives in slums that are listed and unlisted.

Strategies

Strategies may be introduced largely by the improvement of current public health programmes. Such strategies are:

1. Increasing health care access by models of community risk pooling and health insurance.
2. Ensuring quality outcomes in health care.
3. Improving public health efficiency.
4. Public health reinforcement through preventive action.
5. Public-Public Partnership partnerships with railway hospitals, hospitals for public sector companies, etc.
6. Prioritizing the most vulnerable amongst the poor.

Objectives of National Urban Health Mission

1. Health action plan: Preparation of health action plans by panchayat as a mechanism for involving the community in health.
2. ASHA: Provision of trained and supported village health activists in underserved areas as per need ensuring quality and close supervision of ASHA.
3. Reduction of infant mortality and maternal mortality.
4. Population stabilizing, gender and demographic balance.
5. To achieve all targets of disease control programmes such as; National Iodine Deficiency Disorders Control Programme, etc.

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