The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Coastal districts to be hooked up to Chennai hospital through telemedicine

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Thursday, Feb 19, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Coastal districts to be hooked up to Chennai hospital through telemedicine

Staff Reporter

State government ready with a project report and Rs.5 crore is available, says official

— Photo: R. Shivaji Rao

MAN OF THE MOMENT: Prathap C. Reddy , chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group (fourth from left), being felicitated at the inauguration of a conference-cum-exhibition on healthcare in Chennai on Wednesday. (From left) M. Rafeeque Ahmed, chairman, FICCI, TNSC; G.S.K. Velu, convenor, healthcare panel, FICCI, TNSC; Health Secretary V.K. Subburaj; P. Murari, advisor to president of FICCI; and K. Meer Mustafa Hussain, Vice- Chancellor, Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, are in the picture.

CHENNAI: Nagapattinam and other coastal districts will soon be connected through telemedicine units to the Government General Hospital in Chennai, Health Secretary V.K. Subburaj said here on Wednesday.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the first conference-cum-exhibition on healthcare organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s Tamil Nadu State Council, in association with the Department of Health and Family Welfare.

Primary Health Centres, district headquarters and taluk healthcare centres would be linked to the Government General Hospital and other major hospitals such as the Thanjavur Medical College, mirroring the model functioning in other districts, Mr. Subburaj said.

The government had a project report, and Rs.5 crore was available. Partners from the private sector were assisting in the project.

To provide clean linen, steam laundries had been installed in the PHC at Medavakkam and at a PHC in Vellore district.

The laundries could cater for all PHCs in the district, he said. There were plans to scale up the project. “It will revolutionise sanitary conditions in PHCs.”

Mr. Subburaj said there was an increase in the number of people going to PHCs. From 80,000 deliveries two years ago, the number had gone up to 2.5 lakh, which he said was a big surge.

Prathap C. Reddy, chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group, was felicitated for his service to the healthcare sector.

Dr. Reddy said that though the deepening financial crisis was affecting the United States and Europe, the situation was not so bad in India. The healthcare industry in India had the potential to grow, if the government offered financial stimulus.

M. Rafeeque Ahmed, chairman, FICCI Tamil Nadu State Council, and K. Meer Mustafa Hussain, vice-chancellor, Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, called for public-private partnerships to increase access to healthcare.

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