Samagra Shishu Bal Swasthya Karyakram: Objectives, Features and Significance
Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare launched Samagra Shishu Bal Swasthya Karyakram (SSBSK) at the 16th Conference of the Central Council of Health and Family Welfare (CCHFW).
Samagra Shishu Bal Swasthya Karyakram (SSBSK) provides a seamless continuum of home and community-based care for every child from birth to 36 months of age.
The programme is based on the vision of comprehensive care during the first three years. It integrates with the existing Home-based Newborn Care(HBNC) and Home-based Care for Young Child (HBYC) programmes into a single comprehensive framework.
Key Features of the Samagra Shishu Bal Swasthya Karyakram
The key features of the programme includes risk stratified approach to provide intensified follow-up for newborns and children identified as at risk. At-risk newborns will receive up to nine home visits during the first 42 days of life, while at-risk children will receive up to eight home visits up to the age of 36 months under this programme.
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Community platforms for well-baby sessions at every village, sanitation and nutrition day (VHSND) and monthly Shishu Shivir at Ayushman Arigya Mandirs to facilitate regular screening, developmental assessment and comprehensive management of newborns and young children within the community.
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Wary Chilhood Development to mainstream Nurturing Care for Early Childhood Development (ECD) to promote responsive caregiving, early learning opportunities, age-appropriate play, child safety and active family engagement during every home visit and community interaction.
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Maternal mental health after the birth(postpartum) through mental screening as an integral component of community-based care. It will be undertaken by the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) for early screening and facilitate timely referral for further assessment and support whenever necessary.
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Use of digital technologies to enhance service delivery, monitoring and continuity of care like a decision support system, child-wise digital tracking for follow-up and case management of ‘at-risk newborns and children'.
What is Significance?
The digital system under the Samagra Shishu Bal Swasthya Karyakram is tailored to strengthen home-based care in urban areas, particularly for children residing in urban slums, urban settlements and other eligible communities.
The digital programme will be integrated with other government schemes and portals like JANANI Portal, U-WIN Portal, MPCDSR Portal, RBSK 2.0 Portal and POSHAN tracker to enable seamless data exchange through ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account) and Baal-ABHA is a unique 14-digit digital health identifier created under India's ABDM (Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission).
Samagra Shishu Bal Swasthya Karyakram is a significant initiative to strengthen the continuum of maternal, newborn and child healthcare by adopting a nurturing, inclusive and digitalised approach.
Manisha Waldia is a distinguished content strategist with 5 years of experience crafting premium educational content for UPSC and State PCS, with a focus on deep conceptual analysis across Polity, Geography, History, and Environment. She currently brings this expertise to Jagran Josh, where she covers major national and international events, current affairs, and static general knowledge. Over her career, Manisha's specialized insights have led her to curate high-impact materials and serve as a UPSC Mains answer-evaluator for India’s top institutes—including Drishti IAS, Shubhra Ranjan IAS, Study IQ, GS Score, and PWonlyIAS. She has also worked alongside leading NGOs like Oxfam India and Avani Kumaon.
Contact: manisha.waldia@jagrannewmedia.com
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