A rally was taken out in the city on Friday by around 160 nurses and students of RVS Nursing College here to create awareness among the public about a screening campaign for non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
District Collector M. Karunagaran flagged off the rally, which started at the Collectorate and proceeded to VOC Park.
Under this initiative of the Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project (TNHSP), all those above the age of 30 would be screened, free of cost, for four NCDs: hypertension with cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and its complications, breast cancer and cervical cancer.
Nurses have been recruited specifically for the NCD campaign through a non-governmental organisation and posted at all primary health centres, government and Corporation hospitals, municipal dispensaries and urban health centres.
A sensitisation programme was also held later in the day for the NCD staff nurses and top health officials in the district. Addressing the programme, G. Elangovan, Joint Director of Medical and Rural Services, told the nurses to ensure they entered their report into the online portal every day.
Deputy Director of Public Health R. Damodaran said that several benefits had been proposed for the nurses recruited for the NCD campaign. Further, he said that the duration for drugs had been doubled to 30 days.
District Programme Manager (District AIDS Prevention Control Unit) B. Mohamed Ali said that special care must be taken while treating People Living with HIV/AIDS as they will have lower levels of immunity and, therefore, be more vulnerable to other diseases.
M. Sakthivel, Deputy Director of Medical Services (Tuberculosis), S.P. Punmudichelvan, Deputy Director of Medical Services (Leprosy), V. Pangajam, Deputy Director, Department of Family Welfare, and M. Venkatesh, TNHSP District Coordinator, participated.
