Effectiveness of the health and wellness centers in improving identification and primary care of non-communicable diseases in Chhattisgarh State of India

A BSTRACT Introduction: India launched a national initiative named Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) in 2018 to provide population-based primary care including for the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in rural areas. The current study assesses whether operationalization of HWCs improved the detection of NCDs and increased the share of public sector facilities in providing NCD services. Methods: Two rounds of household surveys were conducted in rural Chhattisgarh in 2019 and 2022. With a focus on NCDs, the household survey covered a representative sample of individuals above the age of 30 years – 2760 individuals in 2019 and 2638 in 2022. Multi-variate regression analysis was carried out to determine effects of HWCs on identification of NCDs and utilization of public sector services. Results: The population covered by HWCs had 25% greater chance of being identified with NCDs as compared to the population without HWCs (AOR = 1.25, P = 0.03). The NCD patients living in areas covered by HWCs had 70% greater chance of utilizing the public healthcare facilities (AOR = 1.70, P = 0.01). In the population covered by HWCs, the share of the public sector in NCD care increased from 41.2% in 2019 to 62.1% in 2022, whereas the share of informal private providers dropped from 23.5% in 2019 to 8.4% in 2022. Conclusion: The HWCs showed effectiveness in increasing detection of NCDs at the population level and bringing a larger share of NCD patients to utilize public sector services. They can prove to be a crucial architectural correction for improving primary care service delivery for NCDs and other population health needs in India.