New Delhi, April 6 (IANS): Ayushman Bharat, India's flagship healthcare initiative, has enabled people from underprivileged backgrounds to get access to quality healthcare, said top cardiologist Dr. Devi Shetty on Saturday.

According to the Health Ministry, the programme's Health and Wellness Centers (HWCs) help people from the economically weaker section to access preventive, primitive and some curative healthcare services with standardised quality.

In addition, with its Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), people can avail of health insurance coverage for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.

“Ayushman Bharat had a massive positive impact on the health care of underprivileged poor people,” Dr. Shetty, Founder and Chairman of Narayana Health, told IANS.

“Because this covers predominantly major surgeries, including heart operation, most of these people can never dream of getting all these expensive surgeries,” he added.

Further, the Ayushman Bharat Health Accounts (ABHA), helps reduce out-of-pocket expenses for beneficiaries and improves access to quality healthcare, as per the health ministry.

It says that ABHA, a key component of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), is an account/number used to link all the health records of a person.

“A significant population of the country today are benefiting from the Ayushman Bharat programme. It is a great scheme and it has been doing a fantastic job,” said Dr. Shetty.