The Health and Family Welfare Department is making constant and concerted effort to formulate and execute schemes to ensure adequate health care services to the people in line with the National Health Policy. While implementing these schemes, steps are being taken to make improvements in the health care system to cater to the health needs of the people. Several National health programmes are being implemented as Centrally-sponsored schemes aimed mainly at reduction of mortality and morbidity caused by major diseases.

Improvement in health has been an important part in the overall strategy for socio-economic development over the planning period. Some measure of success has been achieved on the communicable diseases particularly in the case of Leprosy and TB. In the case of Vector Borne Diseases, concerted efforts are being made under the programme while under AIDS; the key strategy has been to build up infrastructure and going for targeted interventions. However, under communicable diseases, Vector Borne Disease and AIDS continue to be critical areas of concern. With the decline in death rate, increase in life expectancy and changing life styles, epidemiological transition is underway resulting in increase in non communicable diseases like cardio-vascular ailments, cancer, cataract induced blindness, diabetes, etc. It is this segment, which needs to be planned for in addition to TB, AIDS on a concrete basis.

To tackle the menace of communicable and non-communicable diseases, the Department of Health is continuing to implement National Health Programmes throughout the country for Malaria, TB, Leprosy, Blindness, AIDS, Cancer, Mental Disorders, etc. Coverage of Disease Surveillance programme is also being extended to prevent outbreak of infectious diseases. Central Institutions and Organizations engaged in health care, medical education and research are continuously being strengthened to tackle the emerging diseases.

To reduce the imbalances that remain in availability of tertiary care hospitals/medical colleges providing specialty/super specialty services across various states and to mitigate the sufferings of people from underdeveloped States, a scheme known as Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) has been launched to develop AIIMS like institutions in select States.

In order to make a substantial improvement in the health status of the country, the Government has launched a National Rural Health Mission for a period of seven years. The main objective of the NRHM is to provide accessible, affordable, accountable, effective and reliable primary healthcare especially to the poor and vulnerable sections of the population. It seeks to provide an overarching umbrella to the existing vertical schemes/ programmes of Health and Family Welfare including RCH-II, Vector Borne Disease Control Programmes, T.B. Control Programme, Leprosy, Blindness and Iodine Deficiency. It also aims to address the issue of health in the context of a sector-wise approach encompassing sanitation and hygiene, nutrition, safe drinking water as basic determinants of good health. It further seeks to build greater ownership for Health and Family Welfare programmes among the community through involvement of Panchayati Raj institutions, NGOs and other stakeholders at national, state, district and sub-district levels.