Health schemes to be digitised

Two districts, Mysore and Raichur, have been selected on a pilot basis under Universal Health Coverage.

With the implementation of the scheme, Karnataka will be the first State in the country to have universal health coverage, said Health Minister U T Khader, here, on Monday.

He was addressing press persons following a meeting with health department officials. He said, the scheme was in the planning stages.

“Soon, data of every resident of Mysore and Raichur district will be collected by the Health department. After the data collection, a software will determine whether a patient is a beneficiary of any government scheme, while being treated at private hospitals.

Moreover, it will be mandatory for private hospitals to ascertain whether a patient is covered under any health scheme and provide the necessary treatment,” he said.

He said, APL families will soon be covered under the Rajiv Arogyasri Yojana, ensuring that all residents of the State benefit from various programmes of the Health department.
NUHM

He said that Mysore was among the four cities in the State selected under National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) of the Center. While Bangalore, Mangalore and Bagalkot are the three cities selected under the scheme, Ullal constituency (represented by the minister), too has been selected under a provision of NUHM, he said.

Noting the shortage of Asha workers and other staff in Primary Healthcare Centres in cities, he said that the problem would be addressed after the implementation of NUHM. Appointments will be made with the funds allotted under the scheme, he said.

Staff shortage

He said that the department had a shortage of over 250 MBBS doctors, 3,000 nurses and 4,500 auxillary nurses and midwives.

“There is a vacancy of about 16-18,000 people in the department,” he said.
Several measures are being initiated to address the staff shortage of the department. The department will soon increase the payscale of various employees, he said.

Appointments for these posts will be initiated as soon as the discrepancies regarding reservation to candidates from Hyderbad-Karnatak region are addressed. Appointments are likely to begin in November, he said.

Water contamination

Providing details regarding communicable and non-communicable diseases in the district, District Surveillance Officer and Mysore City Corporation (MCC) Health Officer (in-charge), Dr D G Nagaraj attributed water contamination to the cause of outbreaks of Gastro Entritis and other diseases.

During the meeting, corporators complained about the poor state of affairs at MCC health department. They said, no health officer had been appointed, following the retirement of former health officer.