CM Bats for AP Health Investment Policy

Vijayawada: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has called for the framing of a five-year state health investment policy with focus on developing seven major facilities.

These are the setting up of medical colleges, multi-speciality hospitals, medtech products, startup innovation, integrated wellness facilities in the name of medical tourism, skilling and a medicity in the Amaravati-VER (Vijayawada East Road Corridor) area.

Naidu held a review meeting on population management and Sanjeevini project with senior officials from the department like health, finance, labour, women and child welfare and the Swarna Gramam-Swarna Ward initiative at the Secretariat here on Tuesday.

He called for the construction of buildings for the proposed government medical colleges by entrusting the works to agencies in a month’s time. The phase-I works for construction of buildings for four medical colleges at Markapuram, Madanapalle, Pulivendula and Adoni would be started first.

This would be followed by works for seven more colleges under phase-II, at Amalapuram, Bapatla, Penukonda, Narsipatnam, Palacole and Parvathipuram.

The CM directed the authorities to write to the Union Ayush ministry, urging it to set up a naturopathy centre in Amaravati.

Later, focusing on the Sanjeevini project, Naidu said officials must promote preventive health systems so as to reduce the medical expenses of the people. There, he said, should be health screening for citizens. Officials must use the public health data for the purpose.

The officials informed the CM that under the Sanjeevani project, so far, 1.08 lakh people availed healthcare services while 2.8 lakh people were given medicines and 19,000 people underwent medical tests.

Naidu said the project should be implemented in the entire state.

Officials, he said, must pay proper attention to providing health services to the people. Even if such services are digitised, and if the lower-level officials failed to work properly, the results would not be satisfactory.

The CM called for a special drive to control anemia, diabetes and other diseases.

Officials informed the CM that the fertility rate had come down in the state from 2.1 to 1.5, and stat the Kadapa district was having the highest rate at 1.99, while Visakhapatnam registered the lowest at 1.32.

The CM called for maintaining the fertility rate at 2.1 and noted that the current rate was relatively less.

The Thalliki Vandanam scheme, he said, was part of the population management programme. The Indian family system remained strong. He discouraged the micro family culture and asked officials to come up with a plan to provide incentives to big joint families.

The Chief Minister laid stress on public health care along with population management and noted that lack of a balanced diet was making more people sick. Officials, he said, must pay attention to nutritious diet and preventive health. They must encourage Ayurveda and naturopathy systems of treatment.

He also asked officials to supply of nutritious diet to the patients who visit hospitals.