Primary Health Centres are opened in order to provide healthcare to people even in remote villages. Apart from hospitals in big cities, such health centres are opened in towns and villages as part of a commitment to provide healthcare to all, Rural Industries Minister Pongalur N. Palanisamy said here recently.
Opening a new primary health centre (PHC) at Kaliapuram in Anamalai in the district and an upgraded one at Madukkarai near the city, the Minister said the Rs.22 lakh centre at Kaliapuram would benefit more number of tribal families in the Anamalai Panchayat Union.
The union already had seven PHCs and two Government hospitals. District Collector P. Umanath was present at the opening of both the centres.
The new centre would provide only out-patient service. The PHC at Madukkarai was only an out-patient centre so far.
Two new in-patient blocks with a total of 30 beds had been constructed at Rs.71 lakh, the district administration said in a press release.
On the State Government's focus on healthcare, Mr. Palanisamy said the Kalaignar Insurance Scheme for Life-Saving Treatment would go a long way in serving the medical needs of the poor.
So far, 18,000 people in the district had undergone surgeries under the scheme for various problems.
From a situation where only the affluent sections could avail themselves of treatment in corporate hospitals, the insurance scheme had enabled the poor also to get advanced medical care at these centres, he pointed out.
Honoured
The Minister honoured owners of the K.M.G Educational Group, K.S. Sivakumar and K.S. Narendra Kumar, for donating 12 cents for the construction of the PHC at Kaliapuram.
The Collector said the health centre at Madukkarai had been upgraded to the standards of a private hospital.
It had an x-ray facility and an operation theatre. With these facilities, this centre would be of great benefit to the people of Madukkarai, a suburb that was located nearly 10 km south of the city.
The conditions in Government hospitals were improving to the extent of patients approaching these for treatment.
The number of deliveries had increased in PHCs and Government hospitals, Dr. Umanath said.
