General Awareness
General awareness tests stable facts about Indian polity, health policy, national programmes and international agencies. These are high-scoring, so learn exact figures and dates rather than impressions.
Health system facts in India
- National Health Policy 2017 targets government health expenditure at 2.5% of GDP by 2025 and aims to reduce out-of-pocket spending.
- Ayushman Bharat (2018) has two components: Health and Wellness Centres for comprehensive primary care, and PM-JAY, which provides ₹5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation.
- Article 47 of the Directive Principles directs the State to raise nutrition and public health and prohibit intoxicants; health is a State subject under the Seventh Schedule.
- SDG 3 is good health and well-being; India tracks infant and maternal mortality against national targets.
Institutions
- WHO came into existence on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva; World Health Day is 7 April. UNICEF was founded in 1946 with headquarters in New York.
- PGIMER, Chandigarh, was inaugurated in 1962 and is an Institute of National Importance under an Act of Parliament, functioning as a tertiary referral and teaching institute.
- The Indian Nursing Council is the statutory regulator of nursing education; the Trained Nurses Association of India is the professional body.
Worked example
If a question asks which body sets standards for nursing education across India, the answer is the Indian Nursing Council, a statutory body under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. A state nursing council registers nurses for that state; the TNAI is professional, not regulatory. Reasoning: distinguish regulatory authority, registration authority and professional association.
Traps
Confusing WHO with UNICEF or the Red Cross, mixing up assembly dates, and guessing scheme amounts instead of knowing ₹5 lakh.