The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : YSR flags off fleet of ‘104 vans’

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 23, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

YSR flags off fleet of ‘104 vans’

Offer of health services to villages away from PHCs

Each mobile health unit will serve a habitation of 1,500 people for 4 hours on a fixed day
Scheme seeks to reduce maternal, infant mortality, besides treating chronic illnesses

HYDERABAD: As part of ‘bridging the last mile gap’ Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy flagged off a fleet of ‘104 vans’ that will offer a range of health services to villages, located beyond 3 km from any public health institution in the rural areas.

Also called ‘Fixed Day Health Service’, the scheme launched under Public-Private Partnership mode, involving the government and HMRI, seeks to reduce maternal and infant mortality, besides offering treatment for chronic illnesses.

Each mobile health unit will serve a habitation of 1,500 people for four hours on a fixed day and visit 56 villages each month.

Describing it as a unique initiative, Dr.Reddy said that initially the vans would cover Mahabubnagar district. Three more districts—Srikakulam, Adilabad and Kadapa--would be added next month and the services would be extended to the entire State by the middle of November with the deployment of 475 vehicles to cover a rural population of 40 million. The patients would also be given medicines free of cost for a month.

Mobile phone facility

He said that in a phased manner telemedicine facilities would be established in all the 1,500 Primary Health Centres and networked with 104 services.

In addition, 50,000 health volunteers have been provided mobile telephones to conduct visits and seek medical advice from 104 centres.

He lauded Satyam Group Chairman B. Ramalinga Raju for enabling modern technology to provide health services to the common man.

Mr. Raju said the current call centre capacity of around 50,000 calls a day would be augmented to 1.5 lakh calls in three to four months.

He said that so far about 25 lakh patients had been registered and eventually all people would become part of an integrated health system.

Other check-ups

CEO of HMRI, U. Balaji, and Family Welfare Commissioner Anil Punetha also spoke.

Manned by paramedics, pharmacists and lab technicians, each vehicle would provide various services including ante-natal check-up, height and weight monitoring, nutritional supplements to mothers and children, basic blood and urine lab investigations and medicines for chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, anaemia and epilepsy.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh