The State Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday, approved the establishment of 33 primary health centres in the Kalyana Karnataka region under the “Arogya Avishkara “ programme launched by the Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board (KKRDB).
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KKRDB chairman Ajay Singh, in a release, stated that the Board had submitted a proposal to the State government for establishing 65 PHCs in the region according to population, which was announced in the recent State budget.
Of the 65 PHCs proposed, the KKRDB would set up 33 PHCs in the first phase at an estimated cost of ₹653 crore. The board will establish 32 more PHCs in the second phase. Dr. Singh said that with the establishment of 65 new PHCs we can overcome the shortage of PHCs in the region to some extent.
As per the data, Bengaluru division has 646 PHCs for 1.13 crore; Mysuru division has 659 PHCs for 94.95 lakh population; Belagavi division has got 455 PHCs for 1.18 crore population, while Kalyana Karnataka region has only 333 PHCs for 1.08 crore population.
To study the prevalence of malnutrition among children and anemia among women in the seven districts of Kalyana Karnataka region, the KKRDB has earmarked ₹48 crore for setting up a Human Genome Study and Research Centre in Raichur, Dr. Singh said.