New Delhi, Feb. 6 -- The Centre has made the National Health Mission's (NHM's) funding for states and Union territories conditional on their government facilities getting the necessary quality certification.

The Union health ministry had highlighted and pushed for prioritizing National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) certification at the regional conferences it convened last year at Shillong, Srinagar, and Vijayawada, among other places.

Only 22,787 out of 175,000 health facilities which include district hospitals, community health centres, and primary health centres had National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) certificates till 31 December last year.

These quality standards are mandatory for district hospitals (DHs), community h...