713 Districts have been covered under Primary Care Services
Two National Centres of Ageing (NCAs) and 18 Regional Geriatric Centres (RGCs) have been set up under Tertiary Care Component
The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare had launched the “National Programme for the Health Care of Elderly” (NPHCE) during 2010-11 to address various health related problems of elderly people.
The objective of the Programme is to provide accessible, affordable, and high-quality long-term, comprehensive and dedicated care services to an Ageing population. The Programme is implemented as Centrally Sponsored Programme at two levels:
- Primary care services at district hospitals and sub district level through geriatric clinics, investigations & rehabilitation services, domiciliary visits by the rehabilitation worker for bed-ridden elderly and counseling to family members for care of such patients and Health Education. A total number of 713 Districts have been covered.
- Tertiary care services through OPD and in-door facilities, development of specialized human resource through various courses in geriatric medicine as well as research at Regional Geriatric Centers and National Centres for Ageing. Under this Component, Two National Centres of Ageing (NCAs) and 18 Regional Geriatric Centres (RGCs) have been set up.
NPHCE is already aligned with NRHM. The details of funds allocated under the NPHCE is attached as Annexure I. In order to further strengthen and broaden the scope of National Programme for Health Care of the Elderly and also help in establishing a range of preventive and health care programmes for older population, a nationally representative survey of older persons in India, LASI (Longitudinal aging survey of India) was conducted under NPHCE. The survey covered all 30 states and 6 Union Territories of India with a panel sample size of 72,250 older adults aged 45 years including 31464 people above 60 years of age and above and their spouses regardless of age. Further, there is a provision of Research on specific elderly diseases at Department of Geriatrics in the Regional Geriatrics Centre & National Centre for Ageing.
