Medical students should play a significant role in creating awareness among the general public in villages about the effective ways to control communicable diseases and ‘Swasthya Vidya Vahini’ provides them the right platform to gain domain knowledge and bring in a definite change, according to Panchayat Raj Minister Ch. Ayyanna Patrudu.
Launching the health initiative of the State government at a programme organised by the Medical and Health Department at Zilla Parishad Hall on Saturday, the Minister laid emphasis on advocating preventive measures to bring down communicable diseases in every village. “Students of medicine and other related streams should come forward to take the campaign forward and help the people stay healthy,” the Minister ascertained adding that the health initiative was launched simultaneously across 13 districts of the State.
Anytime Medical Centres
District Medical and Health Officer J. Sarojini said that students would be paying monthly visits to various villages through vehicles deployed for the purpose. “The outreach programme aims at covering every nondescript village located within a 100-km radius of Visakhapatnam. Asha, ANM, and aganwadi workers would lend support to the 10-month-long endeavour that focuses on 10 different themes,” she explained indicating that the State government would soon launch a couple of Anytime Medical Centres and fully-equipped ambulances in the city.
Awareness on drinking protected water, maintaining personal and environmental hygiene, taking preventive measures to control the spread of communicable diseases, making physical exercise and following a healthy diet a way of life are some of the themes of Swasthya Vidya Vahini.
Terming the project an effective mechanism to bring visible change in health indicators, District Collector Pravin Kumar said that infrastructure mapping and well-equipped family health centres and sub-centres would go a long way in restructuring the public health system.
He urged the department officials to adopt a mission mode approach to carry out the campaign vigorously and achieve the desired result. Andhra Medical College Principal T. Radha and Head of the Department of Community Medicine Devi Madhavi said that care would be taken to train the medicos on various themes before they head to the hamlets.
