In a major boost to paediatric care in the western districts of Tamil Nadu, a District Early Intervention Centre to detect illness among children in the early stages, has been sanctioned for the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital under a Central Government scheme.
A sum of Rs. 25 lakh has been sanctioned to establish the centre under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram, a scheme being implemented under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) to provide for early treatment for children with congenital disease, vision and hearing impairments and other ailments, CMCH Deputy Medical Superintendent Isaac Christian Moses said.
The project is being implemented in the State through the Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project.
Such centres are coming up at 16 medical college hospitals across Tamil Nadu including at the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital at Salem and the Dharmapuri Medical College Hospital. They are also coming up at The Nilgiris, Tirupur and Namakkal districts in the western region of the State.
“This will largely be a screening centre where common ailments affecting children, particularly from rural areas, such as dental caries (tooth decay) and Vitamin A deficiency, which causes night blindness, can be detected and treated at an early stage,” he said on Saturday.
The centre will also have a physiotherapist and dentist besides a psychologist to counsel children. The plan for a 3,500-sq.ft. building to house this centre at Coimbatore had already been approved, Dr. Isaac said.
The Central Government initiative was intended to screen children up to 18 years for congenital ailments, diseases, deficiencies and development delays, including disabilities. Children diagnosed with illnesses would receive follow-up treatment under NRHM.
