10 new PHCs planned in City, existing ones to be upgraded

The BBMP would get 10 new primary health centres (PHCs) and the existing ones would be upgraded to provide better medical care to the poor, U T Khader, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, has said.

The 70 PHCs that are already in place would, when upgraded, ensure that the needs of the lower strata of society are catered to, said Khader at a programme organised to sensitise corporators on the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) on Monday.

“Alongside, 1,199 accredited social health activists would be appointed in the City,” Khader said. He said that under NUHM, five districts including Bangalore, Mangalore and Mysore had been chosen on a pilot basis and the government had sanctioned Rs 133 crore for the purpose. A sum of Rs 50.82 crore had been released in the first phase.

The Palike would also be given Rs 25.82 crore, which the councillors can utilise for the needs of the urban poor.   

“For every 50,000 people, there will be one PHC. Six high tech labs would be added, besides the six mobile kiosks having drugs and the required number of doctors,” Khader said.  
 Mayor B S Satyanarayana said that the Palike was facing a financial crisis and plans to run its hospitals on a public private partnership model. It is also planning to rope in medical college hospitals, besides inviting IT/BT firms and educational institutions for support.
Memo to minister on Kousar case

The staff of the Sanjay Gandhi Institute of Trauma and Orthopedics Hospital have submitted a memorandum to Khader, stating that they were now scared to treat patients, as the patients’ relatives might show violent and negative reaction if things go wrong.

This follows the submission of a report by the committee appointed to look into Mariyam Kousar’s case, in which the negligence on the part of the doctors was pointed out. 

“It is quite natural for the kin of victims to get angry, if such incidents happen. The fellow doctors and staff have said that they have not shown any negligence and termed this incident unfortunate,” said Khader.