New Delhi: As the Covid-19 pandemic brings unforeseen challenges and lifestyle changes across the globe, it could actually be an opportunity for India for expanding its basic healthcare, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Coronavirus has witnessed exponential rise in India in last few days and today it left behind Italy to become sixth worst-nation to be hit by Covid pandemic.

When asked about Covid-19 situation in India, WHO chief said it could be an opportunity for India to speed up the health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat, especially with a focus on primary healthcare.

“Of course COVID is very unfortunate and it’s challenging for many nations but we need to look for opportunities too. For instance for India, this could be an opportunity to speed up Ayushman Bharat, especially with a focus on primary health care. I know there is a very strong commitment from the government to speed up the implementation of Ayushman Bharat and with primary healthcare and community engagement, I think we can really turn the tide, Ghebreyesus said during a press briefing in Geneva on Friday.

Over 1 crore benefited from Ayushman Bharat, till now

The Ayushman Bharat scheme aims to cover more than 500 million beneficiaries and provide coverage of Rs 500,000 per family per year.

Ayushman Bharat is the world’s largest health insurance scheme and was launched by the Narendra Modi government in 2018. Last month, Modi had said that the number of people who have benefited from the scheme crossed the one crore-mark.

‘If no Ayushman Bharat, poor would have had to pay…’

In his 65th Mann Ki Baat, PM Modi had said if the Ayushman Bharat scheme was not in place, the poor would have had to pay an estimated Rs 14,000 crore from their own pocket for medical treatment.

“If the poor had to pay for the treatment post-hospitalisation, had they not received free treatment, according to a rough estimate, more than Rs 14,000 Crore would have been required to be paid out of their own pockets. The ‘Ayushman Bharat’ scheme has saved spending this huge amount of money belonging to the poor. I congratulate not only the beneficiaries of ‘Ayushman Bharat’ but also all the doctors, nurses and medical staff who treated patients under this scheme,” he told the nation.