The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Rs.732 crore for National Emergency and Trauma Care Programme: Minister

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Tamil Nadu

Rs.732 crore for National Emergency and Trauma Care Programme: Minister

Special Correspondent

Opens trauma care centre at Walajapet hospital

Centre to sign pact for implementing Emergency Medical Response Initiative
Union government has not closed down its vaccine production units

WALAJAPET: The establishment of primary, secondary and tertiary hospitals for every 100, 300 and 500 km, stationing of ambulances for every 50 km and providing telephones for every five km on the National Highways of the country have been planned under the National Emergency and Trauma Care Programme (NETCP) to be implemented at a cost of Rs.732 crore in the eleventh Five Year Plan, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Anbumani Ramadoss has said.

He was talking to reporters after inaugurating an emergency and trauma care centre established at a cost of Rs.1.5 crore on the premises of the District Headquarters Hospital here on Saturday. Dr. Ramadoss said that a sum of Rs.4 crore to Rs.6 crore each would be spent on the establishment of the level-1 (primary care) hospitals to be established for every 100 km, Rs.9 crore to Rs.11 crore each for the level-2 (secondary care) hospitals to be established for every 300 km, and Rs.17 crore for the level-3 (tertiary care) hospitals to be established for every 500 km.

Dr. Ramadoss said that the Central government had decided to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Sathyam Computers for the implementation of the Emergency Medical Response Initiative (EMRI) in all the States.

Under the EMRI, which the company was implementing in Andhra Pradesh, an ambulance would reach the accident spot within 15 to 20 minutes of receiving a call. Thanks to the operation of the initiative, about 3,000 lives had been saved in Andhra Pradesh in the last one year. Initially, the initiative would be implemented in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Kerala and Goa, which had evinced interest in the scheme. Later the scheme would be extended to other States. “Through the EMRI, we hope to put in place a system before 2010, by which an ambulance would reach the accident spot within eight to 15 minutes of receiving a call,” he said.

To a question, Dr. Ramadoss clarified that the Union government had not closed down its vaccine production units -the Central Research Institute, Kasauli, Pasteur Institute, Coonoor and the BCG Vaccine Laboratory in Chennai.

It had only temporarily suspended the production of vaccines at these institutions. This was following a warning by the World Health Organisation that it would de-recognise the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) which grants licences to drug companies if the NRA did not ensure that the vaccine production units conformed to the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) norms under the Indian Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1945.

“The WHO which inspected the vaccine production units in 2004 asked us to enforce GMP in the units, failing which it would de-recognise the NRA. It inspected the units again in 2007 when it repeated its warning,” Dr. Ramadoss said.

The government thought that de-recognition of the NRA would erode the international credibility enjoyed by the Indian companies, which were exporting vaccines to other countries. Therefore, the NRA decided to suspend the licences of the public sector units manufacturing vaccines till they rectified the defects.

Meanwhile, a centralised vaccine park was also being established at Chengalpattu at a cost of Rs.400 crore to Rs.500 crore. The vaccine park, which is being established with the technical know-how from the International Alliance of Vaccine Initiative, would be ready in two years.

The workers engaged in the production of vaccines in the existing units would be posted in the new vaccine park.

The three existing units were going through a restructuring process, and they would be engaged in the production of serum and other products necessary for the immunisation programme.

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