Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Govt. to revamp health set-up: Semmalai

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI April 6. The entire health set-up in the State would be revamped in order to benefit the poor who could not access private medical facilities, the Health Minister, S. Semmalai, said here today.

The government was trying to equip all the hospitals with modern and state-of-the-art infrastructure so that the best was available to patients who came from the lower economic groups. However, the Minister added that mere facilities would be of no use unless doctors served the patients with dedication and without discriminating them on the basis of their paying capacity.

Tamil Nadu had made great progress in the health sector, especially in the control of communicable diseases, and it was now time to turn towards spreading awareness of non-communicable, lifestyle diseases, Mr. Semmalai said. Speaking at the annual conference of the TN Association of Senior Civil Surgeons, he advised doctors to hold more awareness and screening camps for diseases such as diabetes and cancer, which were on the increase.

The government will make efforts in the areas of capacity-building and skill development among medical professionals and also encourage research, he added.

Stressing on the need for quality medical research, the Health Secretary, Syed Munir Hoda, said more money should be allocated for the purpose. He also called for transparency in the entire process of appointing doctors to hospitals so that the officials would not be accused of favuoritism.

The Association State secretary, R. Ponnudurai, presented some of the demands of the senior civil surgeons. He called for special casual leave, creation of director's posts in all departments in all medical colleges and filling up of all vacancies in the medicare set up. The Director of Medical Education, P. Raja Sambandam, and the Association president, James Pandian, spoke.

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