After the second wave of the pandemic, which brought to fore the lacuna in the healthcare system in the country, the district administration has decided to strengthen all the primary, community, area and district hospitals by ensuring a 24xs7 oxygen supply.
Deputy District Medical and Health Officer (Dy. DM&HO) P. Ravi Raju told The Hindu that after a study of the dynamics of COVID infections in the district, the importance of equipping the primary health centres(PHCs) with oxygen concentrators was strongly felt.
“As a large number of rural patients depend on the PHCs, we are contemplating on giving top priority to provide oxygen concentrators to these units. Already, a good number of donors, including the Telugu NRIs from the U.S., have come forward with the essential equipment for many centres,” Mr. Ravi Raju said.
The official said that while the graph of COVID infections in the first wave showed a steady rise and fall of cases, mainly in urban areas, the second wave was very sudden, severely hitting the rural side. “The record spread was due to lack of knowledge among the rural people about the new variants and varied symptoms. The delay on the part of patients in getting themselves tested and the last minute admissions into the COVID hospitals led to the increase in the cases and casualties,” Dr. Ravi Raju said.
“The availability of oxygen supply at the units would be effective in saving people’s lives in case of a third wave. Our aim is to prevent deaths by providing immediate care till the arrival of ambulances and shifting them to the COVID hospitals. The concentrators would also be of immense help in dealing with COVID cases among infants.”
So far, donations had come from not only the NRIs, but also from the local industrial units and charitable trusts.
“Rajampeta MP Mithun Reddy and Nagari MLA R.K. Roja took the lead in providing donations of key paraphernalia to the hospitals in the district. As the donations are now mostly limited to the COVID hospitals and urban health centres, we appeal to the donors to extend their gesture to all the 102 primary, 6 community health centres, and 6 area hospitals for the benefit of the rural sector as well,” Dr. Ravi Raju said.
