Day 1
Health & SocialSkim2025-01-22
Cabinet Extends National Health Mission
What Happened
The Union Cabinet approved the extension of the National Health Mission (NHM) for five more years, from 2025-26 to 2029-30. Since its last extension in 2021, NHM has engaged over 1.2 million additional healthcare workers and administered more than 2.2 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses between January 2021 and March 2024.
Why It Matters
NHM is India’s flagship public health programme covering maternal and child health, disease elimination, and rural healthcare infrastructure. Under NHM, the Maternal Mortality Ratio fell 25% (from 130 to 97 per 100,000 live births) and Infant Mortality Rate dropped from 39 to 28 per 1,000 live births, making its continuation critical for achieving universal health coverage goals.
Quick reference — brief coverage only.