Health Minister Adoor Prakash said here on Friday that an out-patient clinic would be started at the Malabar Cancer Centre for treatment of endosulfan victims suffering from cancer.
The Minister said that a study by the cancer centre had shown that prevalence of cancer was higher in areas of Kasaragod district where endsosulfan had been sprayed.
Announcing the programmes for the government for the first 100 days, Mr. Prakash said that a health insurance scheme would be implemented for poor girls. About one crore girls from families living below the poverty line would be given health cards for medical check-ups by August.
The Minister said that consultations would be held with people's representatives for improving the implementation of the National Rural Health Mission. Efforts had already been started in Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta districts in that direction. Special packages had been proposed for Alappuzha and Sabarimala and these would be submitted to funding agencies for assistance within 100 days.
A plan would be implemented in Pathanamthitta district for early detection of cancer, diabetes, and heart diseases. A gynaecology block and trauma care unit would start functioning at Kottayam Medical College shortly and a cardiac catheterisation unit in Kozhikode Medical College.
Medical admissions
The Minister said that talks with the Inter-Church Council and other college managements regarding admissions to medical courses would continue. The government had not approved the stand announced by the Council that it would not provide any government quota of seats this year.
He said that the government had sought legal opinion regarding seats for postgraduate courses in medicine at the Amritha Institute of Medical Sciences which had deemed university status. Secretary (Health) Rajiv Sadanandan said that a decision on the issue would be taken before June 30. The previous government had exempted the institute from providing government quota through an order. If there was no legal grounds for continued exemption, norms for admissions to MBBS courses too would be discussed with the institute management as in the case of other managements.
