The Hindu : 32,000 persons benefit from Corporation health mela

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 15, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

32,000 persons benefit from Corporation health mela

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, FEB. 14 . Over 32,000 persons availed themselves of the free medical check-up organised by the Chennai Corporation in its Pulianthope and Saidapet Zones as part of its "health mela" on Saturday.

The civic agency will follow up the mela in the remaining eight zones of city over the next six days. The project has been organised using the funds of the Central and State Governments.

The Corporation Commissioner, M.P.Vijayakumar, termed the turnout to the health centres on Saturday as `gratifying' and added that the civic agency would follow up the programme by drawing a database of the disease pattern. "The turnout by the public has reposed faith in the Corporation health establishments," he said.

Pulianthope Zone, where the mela was held in 34 health centres apart from the hospital situated in the Zonal office, registered turnout of nearly 23,000 persons. Saidapet, where the mela was conducted in 14 health posts, drew over 10,000 visitors. Most of them were from the poorer sections of the society.

Poongavanam, a 50-year-old resident of Periyar Nagar, who was suffering from constant fever and cold, was among the several residents who were visiting the Corporation clinic in Pulianthope for the first time. She said her `street nurse', the local volunteer, egged her to attend the camp. She was able to take the buffy coated test for malarial parasite for free. At private clinics, the test would cost Rs 150.

Senior health officials also attributed the huge turnout of the camp to the rigorous door-to-door campaigning by local health volunteers. The Corporation had also roped in volunteers from Arivoli Iyakkam, Swarna Jayanti Sheharari Rozgar Yojna and other government schemes to maximise the coverage.

Doctors from government hospitals were present at the two `referral' centers in Pulianthope and Saidapet Zonal Offices to conduct advanced tests on the patients being referred from the smaller health posts. There were also representatives of the Indian form of medicine, including Ayurvedha, Siddha and Unani, from the Anna Hospital and the Central Research Institute.

Counseling on AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases were conducted in separate enclosures. Rapid kid tests to determine HIV were conducted for nearly 100 persons.

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