New Delhi, June 29: The Centre on Monday launched the Samagra Shishu Bal Swasthya Karyakram (SSBSK), a unified national programme integrating existing newborn and young child care schemes to provide seamless home and community-based healthcare for every child from birth to 36 months.
Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda launched the programme during the 16th Conference of Central Council of Health and Family Welfare (CCHFW), describing it as a major step towards strengthening newborn and child healthcare services across the country.
The programme merges the existing Home-Based Newborn Care (HBNC) and Home-Based Care for Young Child (HBYC) initiatives into a single framework centred on comprehensive care during the first three years of life. It aims to improve child survival, nutrition, healthy growth and early childhood development through coordinated community-based interventions.
A key feature of SSBSK is a risk-stratified care model for vulnerable newborns and young children, including those with low birth weight, prematurity, delayed initiation of breastfeeding, malnutrition, recurrent illnesses or developmental delays. Under the programme, 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 follow-up visits until they reach 36 months of age.
The programme also strengthens coordinated care through home visits by Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs), Community Health Officers (CHOs) and Anganwadi Workers (AWWs). Joint visits by ANMs and CHOs have been incorporated at critical stages to facilitate timely assessment, counselling and referral wherever necessary.
To improve early detection of health and developmental concerns, the Centre has introduced Well-Baby Sessions at every Village Health, Sanitation and Nutrition Day (VHSND) and a monthly Shishu Shivir at Ayushman Arogya Mandirs. These platforms will provide regular screening, developmental assessment and comprehensive management of newborns and young children within communities.
SSBSK also integrates post-partum maternal mental health screening into community-based care, with ASHAs tasked with early identification and referral of mothers requiring further assessment and support. The programme further promotes nurturing care by encouraging responsive caregiving, age-appropriate play, early learning opportunities and active family participation during home visits.
To strengthen monitoring and continuity of care, the programme will leverage digital technologies, including decision-support systems, child-wise digital tracking, referral mechanisms and alert systems. These will be integrated with national digital health platforms such as the JANANI Portal, U-WIN Portal, MPCDSR Portal, RBSK 2.0 Portal and POSHAN Tracker through ABHA and Baal-ABHA IDs.
The guidelines also acknowledge emerging risks associated with excessive screen exposure and reduced physical interaction during early childhood. The programme promotes age-appropriate play, physical activity and mental stimulation to support children’s cognitive, emotional, physical and social development.
The Health Ministry said the launch of SSBSK marks a significant milestone in strengthening the continuum of maternal, newborn and child healthcare through an integrated, inclusive and digitally enabled approach aimed at improving health outcomes during the most critical years of a child’s life.
