Star Health Launches 32 Arogya Seva Kendras to Expand Free Primary Healthcare Access

The initiative aims to provide free, structured primary healthcare services to communities with a high burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as hypertension and diabetes, reaching over a million people.

Star Health and Allied Insurance Company Limited has launched 32 Arogya Seva Kendras (ASK) across nine Indian states under its Corporate Social Responsibility programme. The initiative aims to provide free, structured primary healthcare services to communities with a high burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as hypertension and diabetes, reaching over a million people.

The first ASK clinic was inaugurated in Egmore, Chennai, with Tamil Nadu locations including Nagercoil, Thoothukudi, Tiruppur, and Karur. Other states covered in Phase 1 include Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Maharashtra.

Each ASK clinic offers free MBBS doctor consultations, screening for hypertension, diabetes, oral health, and other NCDs, laboratory diagnostics such as blood sugar and hemoglobin testing, medicines for common ailments and chronic conditions, health counseling, and adult pneumococcal vaccination support. Clinics operate with dedicated medical teams and structured follow-up protocols to ensure continuity of care.

Anand Roy, MD & CEO of Star Health, said, “India's healthcare conversation must begin within the community. When screening, medicines, and follow-up are consistently accessible, complications are prevented before they become catastrophic.”

The clinics are implemented in partnership with Piramal Swasthya, part of the Piramal Foundation, which manages staffing, clinical governance, and operations, while Star Health funds the capital and operational expenditure. Ajay Piramal, Chairman of the Piramal Group, highlighted the initiative’s potential to impact over a million lives through accessible consultations, diagnostics, and medicines.

Pfizer India is supporting the initiative with expertise in adult immunization. Saral Gupta, Director Market Access, Pfizer, said, “Adult vaccination is a vital component of preventive healthcare, and this collaboration strengthens access to pneumococcal vaccines for high-risk groups.”

The launch of ASK clinics targets districts with elevated NCD prevalence, where hypertension affects 20–40% of adults and diabetes reaches up to 29%. The Chennai inauguration marks the start of a structured, long-term programme focused on preventive, continuous, and accessible primary healthcare delivery at the community level.

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