Hyderabad, October 08: Jawahar Bala Arogya Raksha, a health programme for schoolchildren will be launched on November 14 across the state. Chief minister K Rosaiah is likely to launch the health programme aimed at conducting screening tests for nearly 85 lakh schoolchildren studying in all government schools for illness. In case any student is detected with a disease, he/she will be sent to nearby government hospital/primary healthcare centre (PHC) for further treatment. The health department took up the novel scheme for detecting diseases prevalent among children and treating them at an early stage. As part of the programme, screening tests will be conducted in each school for two days in a week. For further diagnosis and treatment, students will be sent to nearby government hospitals for treatment.
”In case of emergencies, we are settingup medical teams to take up treatment immediately,” PV Ramesh, health secretary said. He said that 85 per cent of the funds will sanctioned by the Centre under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scheme and the remaining 15 per cent will be provided by the state government.
As part of major reforms proposed to be brought in the public health sector, Rosaiah today approved the ‘Sushrutha’ project which is intended to establish 22 stateoftheart operation theatres on a single floor at Gandhi Hospital in Secunderabad with international standards and high efficiency. The project which will be implemented on a managed services model at an estimated cost of Rs 25 crore also includes a medical care unit with 100 beds. A centre of excellence also will be established in surgical skills with a super speciality course in anaesthesia, paramedical and nursing courses.
The health department will soon establish ITDA health societies to provide comprehensive health services in tribal areas. About 360 Community Health and Nutrition Clusters (CHNCs) will be set up in the state by the end of this year. The officials said that there is an high incidence of infectious diseases like malaria, H1N1 and dengue in the state when compared to last year due to protracted rainfall. However, the officials claimed that the situation is under control.
The chief minister has agreed to establish the Andhra Pradesh Health and Family Welfare Council envisaged to advise the state government on policy, strategy and program priorities on the lines of the National Council. It will comprise ministers of relevant departments, experts in the public health and officials under the Chairmanship of the chief minister. It was also decided to establish district vigilance and monitoring committees for effective monitoring and to enforce financial discipline in NRHM programmes.
-Agencies