10 Years of Telangana: Basti Dawakhana, medical colleges, proof of revamped healthcare in KCR’s rule

HYDERABAD: Propelled by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s welfare agenda, the Telangana administration has been implementing new initiatives in healthcare and medical education. They come with the objective of improving the quality of public healthcare and ensuring the highest standards in medical education. As a result of the State government’s relentless efforts, the state has been recognised as a 'Healthy Telangana'.

Telangana's achievements in healthcare have acted as a model for other states in the country. Effective steps are being taken to improve the health sector in order to cater to the needs of neonates, women, pregnant women, infants, the elderly, chronically-ill individuals and others.

The Telangana government's distinctive efforts have significantly reduced maternal and infant mortality rates even as government hospital births have gone up in recent years. The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in Telangana has come down from 39 in 2014 to 21 in 2020; this number being lower than the all-India figure of 28 infant deaths per 1,000 live births.

The KCR Kit and KCR Nutrition Kit were a huge hit among all the schemes launched by the health department since these programmes focused on the welfare of pregnant women and infants. The success of these pioneering programmes demonstrates that women's welfare is flourishing in Telangana today. Schemes like Amma Vodi, Aarogya Lakshmi and Balamritham Plus besides a significant hike in the remuneration of Anganwadi and Asha workers proved to the rest of the country on how welfare can be infused in healthcare sector measures.

Let us take a look at other key initiatives taken by the KCR regime in the healthcare and medical education spheres

Basti Dawakhana

Basti Dawakhana is a one-of-a-kind initiative that strives to provide quality healthcare to the urban poor under the auspices of the GHMC. A single Basti Dawakhana may accommodate between 5,000 and 10,000 people. Basti Dawakhanas, which are typically located in slums, offer free consultation, tests and drugs. Currently, 321 Basti Dawakhanas provide services under the GHMC's jurisdiction.

Telangana Diagnostics

In another effort to provide free healthcare to the underprivileged in urban areas, the State government opened Telangana Diagnostics mini hubs in Greater Hyderabad in 2018. Telangana Diagnostics is a first-of-its-kind programme to give quality diagnostic and imaging services to the people at no cost. The mini hubs began with pathology services and later expanded to imaging services. Citizens avail free diagnostic services such as X-ray, ECG, MRI, ultrasound and CT scan.

Aarogyasri

The MoU for the Ayushman Bharat PMJAY-Aarogyasri convergence scheme was signed on May 18, 2021. A family's annual maximum coverage limit has been increased from Rs. 2 lakhs to Rs. 5 lakhs. All existing Aarogyasri beneficiaries are now covered by the combined scheme.

The existing Aarogyasri packages would be extended to both government and private hospitals, with payments made at the present Aarogyasri package costs.

Emergency Health Transportation

108 ambulances transport patients to hospitals every day, saving many lives.There are currently 424 ambulances across the state. Following the formation of the state, 298 new ambulances were purchased, with another 100 donated. 398 old ambulances were replaced.

Medical Colleges

There were five Medical Colleges with 700 MBBS seats when the state was formed (Osmania Medical College, Gandhi Medical College, Kakatiya Medical College, and RIMS Adilabad). Four Medical Colleges followed, increasing the number of MBBS seats to 1,640 (GMC SIddipet, GMC Mahbubnagar, GMC Nalgonda, and GMC Suryapet).

Eight new medical colleges with 1,200 MBBS seats were sanctioned in 2021 (Sangareddy, Mahbubabad, Mancherial, Jagtial, Wanaparthy, Kothagudem, Nagarkurnool, Ramagundam).

Nine more medical colleges with a total capacity of 900 MBBS seats would be established at Nirmal, Asifabad, Bhupalpally, Jangoan, Kamareddy, Karimnagar, Khammam, Sircilla and Vikarabad.

Super Speciality Hospitals

Telangana had only one multi-disciplinary super-speciality hospital (NIMS) during Telangana formation. Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS) is a group of four government-approved super-speciality hospitals located in Hyderabad. One super-speciality hospital has been approved to be set up in Warangal

Employee, journalist health scheme

Employees and Journalist Health Scheme is implemented to provide cashless treatment to all the State Government employees, Pensioners, Journalists and all their dependent family members. Out-patient treatments are provided through Wellness Centres and in-patient treatment through empanelled Hospitals. There are 344 empaneled hospitals under this scheme and 12,04,654 beneficiaries are enrolled.