Rs. 1,140 Cr For Public Health

Danam Nagender, minister for Health and Family Welfare, said on Monday that the government will spend Rs. 1,140 crore on strengthening the health care system in the state during the current year.

Talking to mediapersons at the Secretariat, Danam said the Health Ministry will carve out 354 Community Health And Nutrition Clusters (CHNCs) in addition to the newly created 180 Public Health Centres and 23 Community Health Centres.

The Health Minister announced that each Gram Panchayat has been given Rs. 10,000 under the NRHM grant for village health and sanitation committees. He said that these measures formed part of the government determined steps to protect people from contagious diseases.

These Gram Panchayats have been instructed to chlorinate drinking water regularly and keep drains clear and working, to take care not to let water stagnate thus removing mosquito breeding sites, to undertake insecticide-spraying, and to ensure scientific disposal of solid waste.

District Collectors were directed to convene meetings of district coordination committee with officials of Municipal Administration, Panchayat Raj, Rural Water Supply, Health Revenue and other such bodies, in order to formulate steps to prevent the outbreak of infectious and waterborne diseases.

Danam said that there were fewer cases of contagious diseases this year when compared to last year.

He said that while there were 6,000 cases of malaria last year, the number of such cases registered this year was 5,000. Similarly, dengue cases have come down to 16 from 26, and Pylaria from 173 to 130; and not a single case of Japanese Encephalitis was reported this year as against 7 last year.

He added that several rounds of meetings have already been conducted to review and monitor the quality of water supplied by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply And Sewerage Board (HMWSSB), and that the process is continuing.

The minister said that the government, as a precautionary measure, has procured around 12 lakh mosquito nets to protect the poor - especially tribals living in forest areas - from malaria.

The health minister also disclosed that 2,434 posts of doctors and 759 posts of nurses would be filled by the end of July this year, in order to improve health and medical services in the state.

He appealed to the general public and to the media to highlight any failure by the Public Health department so that it can be addressed.

Courtesy: INN News