Andhra Pradesh - Anantapur   

Quality healthcare still a dream for poor: MP

ANANTAPUR: The parliamentary constituency level ‘Aarogya melaas’ (health camps) were being conducted with a view to take the modern health facilities to the common man, Anantapur MP A. Venkatarami Reddy stated here on Friday. Healthcare was getting costlier by the day and the poor people were not in a position to even bear doctor’s consultation fees, let alone costly investigations and medicines.

Speaking after inaugurating the mega health camp on the premises of KSR Government Girls Junior College here, he said modern healthcare had become a distant dream for the poor, particularly those in the rural areas. The State and Central governments jointly conceived the parliamentary constituency-level health camps to provide proper healthcare to the poor along with food and shelter, he noted.

Specialists pertaining to various health problems would conduct health check-up of the patients attending the three-day camp and, if necessary, they would be operated upon in corporate hospitals under the ‘Arogyasri’ scheme, the MP stated. The State government had been making all efforts to bring quality healthcare within the reach of poor under the Arogyasri scheme.

Admitting that there was scarcity of doctors in public health centres in rural areas the MP said the government was planning to fill the posts soon. The government had plans to recruit 3,500 doctors and 7,000 ANMs’ posts, he said.

Anantapur was a backward area and the public healthcare facilities here were needed to be improved. The government was also planning to develop the Government General Hospital here attached to the medical college as a super speciality hospital.

District Collector N. Sridhar stated that about 4,000 poor patients were provided healthcare under the Arogyasri scheme last year even costing up to Rs. 2 lakh each. There were 40 ambulances under 108 EMRI programme in the district and another 104 mobile hospitals, 104 services, would be launched in the district on October 2.

Though the patients were being given medicines for general health problems there was shortage of medicines for chronic ailments at the health camp. When contacted, the officials stated that all medicines would be provided at the camp from Saturday.

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