The National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) as a sub-mission of National Health Mission (NHM) was approved by the Cabinet on 1st May 2013. The Mission envisages to address the health concerns of the urban poor and vulnerable. It makes special efforts to make its services accessible by urban marginalised population through its location, service delivery, outreach and making its service providers sensitive to the needs of its target population.
Under this programme, support is provided for strengthening of the health infrastructure and engagement of Human Resources in identified health facilities. To enhance community participation in health, a community health volunteer ASHA is promoted and a community based unit, named as Mahila Arogya Samiti (MAS) are formed in between 50-100 households.
The programme also address the peculiarities of urban health needs which constitutes non communicable diseases (NCDs) as a major portion of the burden of diseases.
The NUHM focuses on the following points-
In Assam, NUHM has covered 14 nos of districts with cities and towns of above fifty thousand populations. These are as follows- 1.Kamrup Metro 2. Cachar 3. Dibrugarh 4. Nagaon 5. Bongaigaon 6.Dhubri 7.Goalpara 8. Jorhat 9.Karimganj 10.Lakhimpur 11.Sivsagar 12.Sonitpur 13.Tinsukia and 14.Karbi Anglong.
Presently 1212 urban ASHAs are working with 658 nos of MAS at community level in the aforesaid districts. A total of 54 UPHCs are functional as HWCs and providing services to the Urban needy.
The Mission is striving to put in place a sustainable urban health delivery system for addressing the health concerns of the urban poor.