The real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) instrument needed to detect different types of viruses will be made available in Vijayawada by next winter, Vijayawada East MLA Gadde Ramamohan said.
Speaking at an awareness programme on swine flu organised by Aayush Hospitals here on Tuesday, the MLA said that the equipment that roughly cost Rs.50 lakh was currently available in Hyderabad only, but by next winter, the season in which viral infections like swine flu reach a peak, the equipment will be made available in the city. He said, “Rs. 50 lakh is not a huge sum for the government. All the corporate hospitals in the city could come together and develop common facilities which will be useful to all of them.” The MLA who was very assertive said that he would get PCR equipment for the city without fail by next year. In due course the equipment could also be made available in Visakhapatnam and Tirupati so that it was within easy reach of people from all three regions of the State, he said. The MLA lauded the hospital for conducting swine flu awareness programmes in the nearby colonies. Aayush Hospitals Managing Committee chairman Y. Ramesh Babu said that the hospital had distributed pamphlets on swine flu in Sri Ramachandra Nagar, Nagarjuna Nagar and Currency Nagar as part of its corporate social responsibility.
