Public Health, AYUSH & National Health Programmes — MPPSC GS Paper III, Part B, Units III and IV
Weightage: Units III and IV of GS Paper III Part B, together about 60 of the paper's 300 marks. The syllabus names each programme, so factual recall — year, agency, target — carries most of the marks.
1. Why this is a separate chapter
Public health sits awkwardly between science, welfare and administration, and the aliased national science chapter does not treat it in this depth. MPPSC names the programmes one by one (NLEP, NACP, NPCB, Ayushman Bharat), plus the AYUSH systems and Panchkarma, so this chapter follows that list.
2. The AYUSH systems
AYUSH stands for Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy, and the Ministry of AYUSH was created as a full ministry in November 2014. Sowa-Rigpa is also recognised.
| System | Origin and core idea | Key names |
|---|---|---|
| Ayurveda | Indian; balance of three doshas (vata, pitta, kapha), five elements and body constitution (prakriti) | Charaka (medicine), Sushruta (surgery), Vagbhata |
| Yoga and Naturopathy | Yoga is mind-body discipline in eight limbs; naturopathy uses the five elements, diet and water | Patanjali's Yoga Sutras; International Day of Yoga, 21 June |
| Unani | Greek-Arabic-Persian; four humours (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, black bile) | Hippocrates, Ibn Sina; Hakim Ajmal Khan in India |
| Siddha | Tamil tradition; three humours and mineral-metal preparations | The Siddhars, Agastya |
| Homeopathy | "Like cures like" and minute doses | Samuel Hahnemann |
Panchkarma is the Ayurvedic set of five cleansing therapies, classically vamana (induced emesis), virechana (purgation), basti (medicated enema), nasya (nasal) and raktamokshana (bloodletting), with texts varying in the exact list. Shatkarma is the yogic set of six cleansing practices: neti, dhauti, nauli, basti, kapalabhati and trataka.
3. The biological clock
Living organisms follow a roughly 24-hour internal rhythm, the circadian rhythm. In mammals a master clock in the hypothalamus (the suprachiasmatic nucleus) synchronises it to light, and the pineal hormone melatonin signals darkness. The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine recognised the discovery of the molecular genes controlling it.
This links to Ayurveda's daily and seasonal routines (dinacharya and ritucharya), and to disorders such as jet lag and shift-work fatigue.
4. "One Nation, One Health System"
The syllabus lists "One Nation One Health System/Policy 2030". No single statute carries that exact name, so treat it as the integrative medicine idea: allopathic and AYUSH systems working in one coordinated framework. The mechanisms to know are the National AYUSH Mission (2014), AYUSH co-location in public health facilities, the All India Institute of Ayurveda and the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine set up in Jamnagar.
5. Primary health care structure
India's public system is a three-tier pyramid built on population norms, laid down in the Indian Public Health Standards.
| Level | Population norm (plains) | Population norm (hilly, tribal) |
|---|---|---|
| Sub-centre | 5,000 | 3,000 |
| Primary Health Centre | 30,000 | 20,000 |
| Community Health Centre | 1,20,000 | 80,000 |
Frontline workers include the ASHA (about one per 1,000 people, created under the National Rural Health Mission of 2005), the ANM at the sub-centre and the Anganwadi worker. Under Ayushman Bharat, sub-centres and PHCs are being converted into Health and Wellness Centres, renamed Ayushman Arogya Mandirs in 2023.
6. National programmes named in the syllabus
| Programme | Key facts |
|---|---|
| NLEP (leprosy) | Began in 1955; multi-drug therapy adopted in the 1980s; the national elimination target of under 1 case per 10,000 was met in 2005; caused by Mycobacterium leprae |
| NACP (AIDS) | Run through NACO, set up in 1992; the current phase is Phase V (2021-26); the aim is to end AIDS as a public-health threat by 2030; the HIV/AIDS Act, 2017 protects patients' rights |
| NPCB (blindness) | Launched in 1976, later NPCB and Visual Impairment; cataract is the leading cause; the goal is to bring blindness prevalence to about 0.25 per cent |
| Immunisation (UIP) | Universal Immunisation Programme from 1985; Mission Indradhanush from 2014 to reach unvaccinated children; India was certified polio-free in 2014 |
Ayushman Bharat has two pillars. PM-JAY (2018) gives cashless hospital cover of ₹5 lakh per family per year, targeted through socio-economic data and extended in 2024 to all senior citizens aged 70 and above. The Health and Wellness Centres deliver comprehensive primary care. The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission adds the digital health ID (ABHA).
In Madhya Pradesh the tribal belts add malnutrition and sickle cell disease to the burden, which is why the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission was launched from Shahdol on 1 July 2023.
Worked example 6.1 (a full 11-mark GS III answer). "Examine how Ayushman Bharat seeks to strengthen India's health system. (11 marks, ~200 words)"
Model answer. Ayushman Bharat, launched in 2018, has two linked pillars aimed at covering the continuum from primary care to hospitalisation.
The first pillar, PM-JAY, provides cashless secondary and tertiary hospital cover of ₹5 lakh per family per year to entitled poor and vulnerable families, and since 2024 to all senior citizens aged 70 and above. It reduces catastrophic out-of-pocket expenditure and lets patients use empanelled public and private hospitals.
The second pillar converts sub-centres and primary health centres into Health and Wellness Centres, later renamed Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, to deliver comprehensive primary care including screening for non-communicable disease. This addresses the fact that most illness is best handled early.
The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission adds health IDs and records. Challenges include uneven empanelment in remote and tribal areas, claim settlement delays, staffing shortages and the risk of fraud, so success depends on strengthening primary care alongside insurance.
Common traps MPPSC sets here
- Mixing up the programme starts. NLEP dates to 1955, NPCB to 1976 and NACO to 1992.
- Listing Panchkarma as one fixed list. Texts vary, so write "classically" and give the five.
- Confusing Shatkarma with Panchkarma. One is Ayurvedic, the other yogic.
- Treating "One Nation One Health System" as a named law. Explain it as the integrative-medicine idea.
Memory aids
- "Leprosy 55, blindness 76, AIDS 92": the three programme start years.
- "Vamana, Virechana, Basti, Nasya, Raktamokshana": Panchkarma.
- "Neti, Dhauti, Nauli, Basti, Kapalabhati, Trataka": Shatkarma.
Summary
India's health system rests on the AYUSH systems and a three-tier public pyramid of sub-centres, PHCs and CHCs staffed by ASHAs and ANMs. The national programmes named in the syllabus are NLEP (1955), NPCB (1976), NACP (NACO, 1992) and immunisation (UIP 1985, Mission Indradhanush 2014).
Ayushman Bharat (2018) combines PM-JAY hospital cover with Health and Wellness Centres and a digital mission, and Madhya Pradesh's tribal belts add sickle cell disease and malnutrition to the agenda.
Exam protocol
- Give a programme answer as year, agency, target, one challenge.
- For AYUSH questions, name the system, its central idea and one key text or figure.
- End every health-policy answer with primary care strengthening as the way forward.
