Telangana Diagnostics, the Centre-funded State-run service, would be scaled up to cover the entire State following successful runs in Hyderabad.
Under the Centre’s National Health Mission, the programme was conceived and launched by the State government in Hyderabad in June. The facility works on a hub-spoke model, collecting samples from primary health centres and transporting it to a diagnostic facility, which serves as a hub. Now, the government plans to set up 47 hubs across the State, covering close to 700 PHCs.
“Training is under way for staff while requirement for procurement of equipment has been conveyed to the government. Most hubs will come up in area or district hospitals,” an official said. The hub in Hyderabad is located at the Institute of Preventive Medicine.
The health administration is looking to ensure that the distance between the hub and the PHC does not exceed 20 km. An external agency has been entrusted with the task of transporting the samples.
“A field evaluation of each of the proposed centres will be taken up before the draft plans are validated. In some districts, more than one hub may be required keeping in view of the distance requirements,” the official said, adding that staff for the new hubs would be drawn from the existing manpower. The plan is to inaugurate a few hubs in one go to complete the exercise by the end of this year.
The State launched Telangana Diagnostics to provide 56 tests free of cost to patients. The Hyderabad hub serves nearly 120 PHCs, and is tied up with IPM to provide free testing for an additional 30 tests. The Hyderabad hub, which was set up at the cost of ₹4 crore, is likely to remain the biggest in the programme.
