Thanks to the Family Physician Concept (FPC), Subhramanyam, a 50-year-old farmer of Puthalapattu mandal, was able to get early detection and treatment for Tuberculosis. “It would’ve gotten a lot worse for me had the detection not been done at an early stage. I have to give the credit to the Family Physician Concept team that visited me at my house and tested me for TB,” he said.
In a similar case, Bhavani, 37, from Nagari town was diagnosed with uterus cancer at an early stage by the FPC team. “I was shocked when the FPC team broke the news of my cancer. It took me a while to come to terms with it. Now, I am under treatment and the doctors assured me that I would recover in a few months’ time.
The FPC is on a trial run in 439 village health clinics in the Tirupati district and 434 of them in the Chittoor district. Since the pilot launch on October 21, more than 40,000 people from nearly 1,000 villages in the twin districts have been given treatment. About 150 cases of oral cancer and over 100 cases of uterus cancer have been detected and about 2,000 people were diagnosed with anaemia through the programme.
District Officer for Immunization, TB, AIDS, and Leprosy Control Dr. P. Ravi Raju said as per the instructions of Collector M. Hari Narayanan, the medical and paramedical teams were on a mission to take the concept of FPC to every nook and corner of Chittoor and gear up for its full-fledged launch on Ugadi next year.
“The FPC is hailed as a miracle in medical and health administration, particularly in treating rural patients and those under the BPL category. A major highlight is that the concept has registered an overwhelming response from the rural poor who mostly suffer from communicable diseases such as TB, leprosy, and AIDS. Most patients suffering from communicable diseases feel an inhibition to visit the hospitals. During this pilot survey, we could detect many TB cases while conducting random diagnostic tests,” he said.
The official said that State Observer (FPC) Dr. Rama Devi had inspected the functioning of the concept at several village clinics and interacted with the patients.
“The personnel on 104 Vehicle duty would be attending to the patients at their doorsteps twice a month. The public is also developing a lot of confidence in the medical and health sector under the government. The medical officers distribute 67 kinds of medicines for various ailments and provide 14 kinds of medical tests in the villages and the public response to this is very positive. Asha workers and ANMs are also involved in a big way. By Ugadi next year, this FPC concept is all set to become a reality and revolutionary for public health,” Dr. Ravi Raju said.
