Permit treatment of Aarogyasri patients in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai until healthcare facilities in Andhra Pradesh improved, the expert committee on Aarogyasri and Health Care has recommended.
The committee headed by former Union Health Secretary K. Sujatha Rao submitted an interim report to Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy here on Friday.
The committee, sharing details of the interim report with Mr. Jagan, told him that the distribution of medicines was not proper in the State. Auditing was also not being properly done. The committee is expected to give the final report on August 30.
The committee recommended that the government permit treatment of Aarogyasri patients in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai, if necessary, until the facilities were improved.
Ambulances
The committee told the Chief Minister that the 108 and 104 services were in very poor shape. While 440 of the 108 ambulances were over seven years old, 292 of the 104 ambulances were over 10 years old.
The 108 ambulances were only able to transport patients and accident victims to hospitals. No life support or first aid was being provided to those who needed it, the committee pointed out. The paramedics manning the ambulances needed proper training and need to be paid on time the panel members told the Chief Minister.
The Chief Minister asked the expert committee to prepare a time-bound programme to improve the healthcare facilities in the State. The experts were asked to factor in the purchase of ambulances for 108 and 104 services, issuing of health cards, eye screening, laying of foundation stones and establishment of five cancer hospitals, starting of three new medical colleges and two new kidney hospitals and giving of proper Aarogyasri guidelines to the network hospitals, into the time-bound programme. Mr. Jagan told the committee that people were already suffering owing to the lack of proper healthcare. The programme should be prepared without delay, he said.
While there was time till August 30 for submission of the final report, the expert committee will be meeting in Amaravati on August 12.
