A National Consultative meeting hosted by the Union health ministry has asked all states to prioritise locations to establish the proposed Health and Wellness centres (HWCs). The HWCs are aimed at providing comprehensive primary care services to local populations.

This update has come after the Centre’s announcement, earlier this year, to turn 150,000 sub-centres across the country into HWCs, that would screen people for diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and breast, oral and cervical cancers and provide reproductive and child health services.

The establishment of healthcare services and staff at the sub-centres is expected to take place in a phased manner to achieve 150,000 operational HWCs by 2022.

For the first year, the states have been asked to identify primary health centres and HWCs in blocks and districts where infrastructure and human resources are in place, and to conduct orientation programmes for district teams on developing comprehensive primary healthcare services.