State Health Agency, UT Ladakh launched Aapke Dwar Ayushman programme under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri, Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) scheme at SNM Hospital, Leh on July 2.

Principal Secretary, Health and Medical Education, Dr. Pawan Kotwal flagged off two vehicles for the camp of Aapke Dwar Ayushman to Nubra and Kargil, respectively.

AB-PMJAY is a centrally sponsored scheme funded by both union and state governments and is considered the world's largest government-sponsored healthcare programme. Under the scheme, the beneficiaries have a health cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization in both private and government hospitals. The beneficiary families under AB-PMJAY have been identified from the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) of 2011 based on select deprivation and occupational criteria across rural and urban areas.

Principal Secretary, Dr. Pawan Kotwal exhorted that access to quality healthcare services is of utmost importance, and with the golden card scheme beneficiaries will get coverage for medical treatment in empanelled govt and private hospitals. He added that although 73 % of households in Ladakh are covered, the officials must strive to cover everyone eligible under the scheme and reiterated that no one should be left out from the scheme.

Further, he stressed that the participation of public health representatives will play a major role in making the campaign successful and urged them to implement the scheme on the ground level. He reiterated that each Ladakhi must have a golden card to avail of the benefits of the scheme.

Under the program of Aapke Dwar Ayushman, various camps will be organised in villages to spread information and create awareness through PMAMs/DEO to mobilize the campaign wholly in UT Ladakh.

AB-PMJAY commenced in Ladakh in Dec-2018 for poor and vulnerable 10904 families with a total of 54520 individual eligible beneficiaries. The Administration introduced Universal Health Coverage in convergence with PMJAY to cover all the remaining families and individuals through digital, portable, and cashless health insurance schemes. A total number of 1,18,784 Golden cards has been generated to date. Also, the Administration has made all ration card holders of UT Ladakh eligible for this scheme. There is no restriction on family size, age, or gender and all previous medical conditions are covered under the scheme. Additionally, a golden card holder is eligible for referral transport reimbursement for the Air Ticket of one patient and one attendant.