An urban Primary Health Centre (PHCs), the second in the district, was opened at Manapparai on Saturday.
The State government has decided to open urban PHCs under the control of the Department of Health Services to extend primary health care in urban local bodies such as municipalities and one such PHC has been opened in Thuraiyur, health officials said.
The PHC will have about 10 beds and focus on primary health care delivery and ensuring institutional deliveries. All health care programmes of the rural PHCs will be implemented in the urban PHCs also.
The PHC in Manapparai was declared open by T.P. Poonachi, Minister for Khadi and Village Industries, in the presence of M. Thambidurai, MP, Karur, R. Chandrasekaran, MLA, Manapparai, and Jayashree Muralidharan, Collector.
Mr. Poonachi said the Health Department had screened 77,509 students of classes 6 and 7 in 587 government and government-aided schools in the district and identified 3,737 children with vision defects for supply of spectacles under the Kannoli Kappom scheme.
Later, Mr. Poonachi declared open a veterinary dispensary at Nadupatti for the benefit of farmers in Nadupatti, Inamponnambalampatti, Inampuduvadi, Aniyapur, Nallampillai, and Pudukottai villages.
E. Chinnadurai, Joint Director, Animal Husbandry, and K.C. Cheran, Deputy Director of Health Services, were present.
