Infrastructure boost to government hospitals

Chennai: From being the frontrunner in organ transplantation to a hub of me­dical tourism, Che­nnai in 2013 witnessed many achievements in health, especially thr­ough the chief minister’s comprehensive he­alth insurance scheme.

In 2013 alone, government hospitals procured high-end equipment wo­rth several crores of ru­pees and improved the infrastructure of vario­us hospitals.
The Rajiv Gandhi Government General Ho­spital (RGGGH), Inst­itute of Child Health and Hospital for Children, Egmore, and Institute of Obstetrics and Gynae­cology, among others, have generated nearly Rs 75 crore through insurance.

“Surgery that would otherwise cost Rs 4-7 lakh in private hospitals has been done free-of-cost under the CM’s comprehensive insurance sch­eme,” said Dean of MMC Dr V. Kanagasabai. At a recent event at RGGGH, health minister Dr C. Vijayabaskar pointed out that the insurance scheme had ensured that the common man could have access to state-of-the-art medical facilities in government hospitals.

One of the main highlights was an increase in medical seats in government medical colleges. “In 2013, 410 new medical seats were introduced, thereby helping many students join the government medical colleges,” said a senior official fr­om the Directorate of Medical Education.

Of the many interesting cases that the city saw in 2013, one was that of the three-month-old Rahul who was admitted to the Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital in August with spontaneous human combustion (SHC).

What was initially tho­ught of as SHC and then child abuse went undiagnosed.The burning baby was discharged after many weeks with the Dean of Kilpauk Medical College Dr P. Rama­k­ri­shnan saying that the police must solve the incident and that they would extend their support.

Another two promin­ent cases were the separation of a pair of Tan­zanian pygopagus twins, Ericana and Eluidi, and another was that of 42-year-old Satish Kumar, who was the first patient in the country to receive a heartware ventricular assist device (HVAD) pump that was said to be the smallest device in the world.

A private hospital in Chennai had successfully performed the complex procedure in Sep­tember. Though the health scenario in the state im­proved compared to 2012, health activists blamed the officials for not handling swine flu and dengue cases effectively. Health officials denied that swine flu cases were actually reported by private hospitals.

“Though there was surveillance, not many cases reported properly. Also, there was no continuous awareness about the influenza A (H1N1) virus and dengue,” said Dr S Elango, former state public health director.

A lot more is expected in 2014 as ‘104’, the health helpline, will be launched soon which will further enhance he­althcare delivery in the state. “The health hel­pline, which is being launched on a pilot ba­sis, will address people’s health queries,” said B. Prab­hudoss, reg­ional manager for GVK EMRI.