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India's public healthcare system has reached a historic milestone with more than 50,000 health facilities receiving certification under the National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS), underscoring the government's push towards quality, safety and patient-centred care.
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), a total of 50,373 public health facilities across all States and Union Territories stood NQAS-certified as of December 31, 2025. The achievement marks a significant leap in institutionalising quality across India's public healthcare network, particularly benefiting poor, vulnerable and marginalised communities. Launched in 2015 with just 10 certified facilities, the NQAS programme initially focused on District Hospitals. Over the years, it has expanded to cover Sub-District Hospitals, Community Health Centres (CHCs), and Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, including Primary Health Centres (PHCs), Urban PHCs (UPHCs) and Sub-Health Centres (SHCs), enabling quality assurance across all levels of care. The scale-up has been especially rapid in the past two years, driven by digital innovations such as virtual assessments, expanded assessor capacity, and continuous quality improvement initiatives. Certified facilities rose from 6,506 in December 2023 to 22,786 in December 2024, before more than doubling to 50,373 by December 2025. Of the total certified facilities, 48,663 are Ayushman Arogya Mandirs at the primary care level, while 1,710 are secondary care facilities, including CHCs, Sub-District Hospitals and District Hospitals. Officials said this reflects the deepening integration of quality standards across the healthcare delivery system. The milestone aligns with India's Universal Health Coverage (UHC) goals outlined in the National Health Policy 2017, which emphasises accessible, affordable and quality healthcare without financial hardship. The government described the achievement as a reflection of the principles of Aatmanirbhar Bharat and "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayaas". The Centre has reiterated its commitment to sustaining momentum and set an interim target to achieve NQAS certification for at least 50% of all public healthcare facilities by March 2026, further strengthening quality, safety, and patient trust in the public health system. (ANI)
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