Health department sets up exclusive women's clinics in Mysuru

The Health department has come up with country’s first of its kind, Women’s Wellness clinics at five Urban Health and Wellness Centers (UHWC) in Mysuru.

The centres have been launched on a pilot basis to facilitate women and adolescent girls in sharing their medical issues and undergo medical screening more comfortably.

The clinics have now been started in UHWCs, run under National Health Mission, at J P Nagar, TK Layout, Bannimantap, Jockey Quarters and Kumbarakoppal in Mysuru. The new facilities have been receiving good response.

Mysuru District Health Officer Dr K H Prasad told DH that on an average 40 women visit each clinic every day. There are plans to establish five more such clinics in the city at Shanthinagar, Nazarbad, Giriyabovi Palya, Rajendranagar and Subramanya Nagar. Besides, there are plans by government to start 118 women wellness clinics, including 57 in BBMP limits in Bengaluru and 61 in other districts, Dr Prasad said.

Dr Arundhathi Chandrashekar, State Director, National Health Mission said, these clinics for women were a first-of-its-kind in the government sector in the entire country. There are plans to launch more such women’s clinics in November, she said.

The clinics include a pink room, waiting area, separate enclosure for medical screening, a bed for resting. There will be female doctors and staff. There are facilities for blood and other medical tests, also for screening for non-communicable diseases such as the cancers of uterus and breast among others.

Facilities to address issues related to adolescents, prenatal and postnatal care, counselling to address mental health issues and family planning services are also available. The clinics also create health education, awareness on diet, nutrition, yoga and meditation among women. The main objective is to provide a women-friendly atmosphere as any medical issues can be attended to at the initial level.

Gynaecologist Dr Jyothi Umesh opined that most of the women prefer to see female doctors especially for their gynaecological problems. At least 40% women usually delay in consulting doctors for any lumps or excessive bleeding and come to the doctors only at the advanced stage. Hence, these clinics are helpful for women, provided the health department has adequate manpower, she said.

DHO Dr Prasad said that the clinics have been set up where there are adequate female staff who are trained in different aspects. If required, the patients would be referred to other government hospitals for further treatment. Besides, Mysuru was chosen for the pilot, as it is a tier-II city with around 10 lakh population and adequate facilities .