The Community Health Centres (CHCs) constitute the secondary level of health care, were designed to provide referral as well as specialist health care to the rural population. Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) for CHCs have been prescribed under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) since early 2007 to provide optimal specialized care to the community and achieve and maintain an acceptable standard of quality of care. As setting standards is a dynamic process, the need was felt to update the IPHS keeping in view the changing protocols of existing National Health Programmes, development of new programmes especially for noncommunicable diseases and prevailing epidemiological situation in the country and different States/UTs of the country; accordingly the revision has been carried out. These standards would act as benchmarks and help monitor and improve the functioning of the CHCs.

We believe Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.“HEALTH FOR ALL" does not mean an end to disease and disability or that doctors and nurses will for everyone. It means that resources for health are evenly distributed and that essential health is accessible to everyone, It means that health begins at home, in school, and at the workplace, and that people use better approaches for preventing illness and alleviating unavoidable disease and disability, it means that people recognize that ill-health is not inevitable and that they can shape their own lives and lives of their families, free from the avoidable burden of disease and constantly strive to achieve the objectives spelt out in the above mentioned doctrine of "WHO".