Centre unveils new maternal and child health initiatives

📌 Summary:

• The Centre unveiled a series of initiatives to strengthen maternal and child healthcare, emergency medical services and anaemia control at the 16th Conference of the Central Council of Health and Family Welfare (CCHFW)
• The government highlighted improvements in key health indicators and called for greater Centre-State collaboration to achieve universal health coverage
• Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda said a "Viksit Bharat by 2047" cannot be realised without a healthy population, describing health as a key pillar of national development

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 Governance — health policy, cooperative federalism in the health sector, and the goal of universal health coverage

📝 Prelims Facts:

• CCHFW = Central Council of Health and Family Welfare; this was its 16th Conference
• Health is a State subject; the Union sets national health programmes and standards
• The conference was chaired by Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda

🔑 Key Term: Universal Health Coverage — all people accessing the health services they need without suffering financial hardship.