Abstract

PIP: The various sections of the draft of the National Health Policy of the government of India include a preamble and focus on the following: primary health care; preventive and public health services; promotive services; family welfare and population policy; maternal and child health services; curative services and hospitals; medical education and health manpower; health planning and health information system; mental health; rehabilitation; biomedical engineering; pharmaceuticals; research; legislation, insurance and coordination; and inputs in health-related fields. The short-term goals of the national health policy include eradicating/controlling communicable diseases, providing adequate infrastructure for primary health care in rural and urban areas; and utilizing all available methods for health educating and spreading the message of health and family welfare. The long-term goals of the national health policy are to improve public health services by establishing a chain of sanitary-cum-epidemiological stations, ensure 100% coverage of all segments of the population with preventive services, and to create a self-sustaining system of health security so that earnings of the individual are not affected adversely during periods of illness.