The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : NGOs playing crucial role in health care programmes: Anbumani

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 04, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

NGOs playing crucial role in health care programmes: Anbumani

By Our Staff Reporter

PONDICHERRY, OCT. 3. The Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, R. Anbumani, today said non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were playing an important role in supplementing the Government's efforts in health care of the people.

Addressing newsmen after commissioning a Rs. 3.5-crore linear accelerator equipment for treatment of cancer patients and laying the foundation for a Rs. 6.5-crore auditorium at JIPMER (Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research) here, he said the NGOs played commendable role in control of blindness.

The Government's aim was to reduce blindness to 0.8 per cent by 2010.

He said 37-lakh patients out of 42 lakhs who underwent cataract surgeries in the country were implanted with intra ocular lens.

The Centre had decided to constitute a council for compulsory registration by para-medical personnel and physiotherapists.

The Cabinet would soon make a formal announcement. Those who fail to register themselves with the council would face penal action, he said.

The Prime Minister would announce a specific plan in another two months to tone up rural health services.

On development of JJIPMER, he said during his previous visit a couple of months ago he had identified shortcomings in the hospital. There were complaints of shortage of doctors and other staff. Now he had sanctioned 110 posts of doctors and 78 posts of Groups C and D Staff for the institute.

Fiftyfive more posts would be created and sanction for this would be made as soon the Screening Committee cleared them.

The institute would have a Rs. 98-crore superspeciality block with a bed strength of 360 and one more CT Scan centre.

Dr. Anbumani said with the outpatient block attracting around 6,000 patients daily the institute needed to be expanded and he had directed installation of 10 computerised registration counters at the OPD so that no patient would need to wait for long for registration. These works would be done in eight months.

The Pondicherry MP, M. Ramadoss; the Deputy Director-General of Health Services, S. Badrinath; the Director of JIPMER, K.V.S.K. Subba Rao, and the Dean in charge, K.S. Reddy, were present.

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