By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 23 Jul: Newly appointed Secretary (In-charge) Health and Mission Director National Health Mission (NHM) Dr R Rajesh Kumar interacted with the media on Friday, listing his priorities with respect to his newly assigned responsibilities. Kumar said that the promotion of tele-medicine in Uttarakhand through the National Health Mission, would be his top priority as Mission Director, NHM. He also added that arrangements would be made to deliver medicines to the patients at their doorsteps as far as possible in respect of telemedicines.
Dr Kumar said that a strategy was being prepared for this. He informed that at present, 35 health centres in the state were connected with tele-medicine services. Better treatment facilities would be provided to the patients through telemedicine in the remote and inaccessible areas of the state. Apart from this, efforts would also be made to deliver essential medicines at home to the patients who would be requiring long time treatment.
The Secretary-in-Charge said that the objective of NHM was to reach the common people of the health services being provided by the State Government. For this purpose, a strategy was being prepared to ensure common people’s reach to health services being provided by the state government. A Quick Response Team of officials would be constituted to monitor the health services in the hospitals and that this team would from time to time be conducting surprise inspections of hospitals.
Kumar said that he would also ensure that the doctors and the staff reached the hospitals on time. For this, due attention would be given to recording and monitoring daily attendance. Action would be taken against health institutions and quacks running without registration. He said that the maternal and child mortality rate in the state was better than the national average. Despite this, efforts would be made to further reduce maternal and child mortality and to ensure that there was no shortcoming or lacunae in providing timely treatment of pregnant women coming for delivery in hospitals. For this the doctors concerned would be made accountable and their responsibility would be fixed. Kumar added that in view of the possibility of disasters in the monsoon season, doctors had been deployed in the control rooms at the state and district level. Asha workers were also giving information from door to door for prevention and awareness by identifying dengue hot spot areas.
