Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Private hospitals can play a better role: Chandy

Thiruvananthapuram: Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy has called for increased participation of private hospitals in the public health sector in the State.

Public health sector in the State is facing more challenges than ever and the much-acclaimed ‘Kerala model’ no longer stands the State in good stead. Private hospitals should play a more pro-active role in public health as healthcare in the State is becoming increasingly unaffordable, Mr. Chandy said.

He was inaugurating the free distribution of spectacles to schoolchildren, organised by Noorul Islam Institute of Medical Science (NIMS).

NIMS took up the programme after a screening held in 45 schools in the Neyyattinkara taluk. The Ophthalmology department examined 14,425 students, out of whom 812 were found to have vision problems. Of these, 710 were examined in detail at NIMS. Lions Club International, King City District, sponsored 210 spectacles for children below Class V. Another 470 were distributed at a subsidised rate. NIMS is planning to extend the eye screening programme to the entire district this academic year.

NIMS is planning to introduce a satellite clinic for cardiac care at the Al-Arif hospital and an MoU to this effect was exchanged between both hospitals on the occasion.

The MoU says treatment facilities available at NIMS will be made available to patients from Al-Arif hospital also. A similar MoU has been signed with Sree Narayana Medical Mission Hospital, Varkala also for extending cardiac care facilities there. NIMS has been introducing satellite clinics for cardiac care in various destinations so that cardiac care is affordable to all, a statement issued here by the hospital said.

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