Telangana is the third-best state in the country in health care and the state has undergone a phenomenal improvement in health indices post-state formation. The annual report released by the Health department of Telangana highlights the achievements of the department in the year 2022.
2022 has been a noteworthy year for Telangana in terms of health, medical and family welfare. Right from new medical colleges and super specialty hospitals to the upgradation of public health facilities, the health department worked round the clock to ensure better health care.
Some of the important milestones achieved by the department include
· Ranked 3rd best state in the country by Niti Aayog
· MMR reduced to 43, which is third lowest in the country
· IMR reduced to 21.
· 8 new medical colleges made functional. 9 new medical colleges sanctioned
· 19 MBBS seats and 7 postgraduate seats per lakh population
· 4 super specialty hospitals sanctioned in Hyderabad
· 1 super specialty hospital is sanctioned in Warangal
· Sanction is accorded for upgradation of NIMS from 1,489 beds to 3,489 beds
· 61 new dialysis centres with 515 new dialysis machines sanctioned
· State-of-Art diagnostic facilities are created in hospitals
· More than one crore lab tests conducted under Telangana Diagnostics free of cost
· Oxygen generation capacity increased from 135 MT per day to 332 MT per day
New Medical Colleges: Eight medical colleges were sanctioned in 2021 at Sangareddy, Mahbubabad, Mancherial, Jagtial, Wanaparthy, Kothagudem, Nagarkurnool, and Ramagundam. Admissions in the above medical colleges for the academic year 2022-23 are completed. Nine new medical colleges were Sanctioned in 2022 at Nirmal, Asifabad, Bhupalpally, Jangaon, Kamareddy, Karimnagar, Khammam, Sircilla, and Vikarabad.
Super Specialty Hospitals: Government issued orders for the establishment of 4 Super specialty hospitals (TIMS) in Hyderabad at Gachibowli, LB Nagar, Alwal and Sanath Nagar.
The government has sanctioned a state-of-the-art Health City and Super-specialty hospital at Warangal. The construction of the 2000 bedded hospital has begun. NIMS hospital will be expanded by increasing the bed strength from 1,489 to 3,489 beds which include 200 MCH beds.
Maternal Health and Nutrition: 13.91 lakh women have benefitted from the KCR Kit scheme since its inception. The maternal Mortality Ratio in Telangana has seen a downward trend from 92 in 2014 to 43 in 2018-20. Institutional deliveries in public health have increased from 30.5% in 2015-16 to 61% in 2022.
Child Health and Immunization: 38 functional SNCUs in 2022. 13 more SNCUs will be set up in 2023. 46 NBSUs are functional in the State & 10 New NBSUs are approved. The infant Mortality Ratio has decreased over the years from 39 in 2014 to 21 in 2020
Telangana Diagnostics: Telangana Diagnostics is a “Hub & Spoke” model of “Free Diagnostics”. Hyderabad Central Hub is NABL Certified in October 2021. Hubs are available in 22 districts. Additional 13 new central cubs with pathological and radiological services are being set up in the remaining districts.
9. HWCs – Palle Dawakhanas: State has received awards at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh on Universal Health Coverage Day for achieving the target for the Operationalization of AB-HWCs for the year 2022-23 Quality Assurance Programme. Currently, 70 Hubs and 4,766 Spokes are functional in the state. More than 31 lakhs of Telemedicine consultations have been facilitated by government health facilities.
Basthi Dawakhana: 334 Basthi Dawakhanas are functional. Each Basthi Dawakhana caters to approximately 5000 to 10000 people. In 2022 the outpatient footfall in Basthi Dawakhanas is 47 lakhs.
Kanti Velugu: To work towards “Avoidable Blindness Free Telangana”, the Government has taken up universal eye screening by covering the entire population of the state under Kanti Velugu 2023 programme. The programme was launched on January 18, 2023, by Hon’ble Chief Minister. 1500 teams are formed for this screening and the programme will run for 100 working days.
STEMI Initiative: STEMI programme in the state is implemented in a ‘Hub and Spoke Model’. Artificial Intelligence-based Tele- ECG Machines. 5 Active Hubs Osmania, Gandhi, NIMS, MGM and DH Khammam and 74 spokes covering all 33 districts are functioning.
Ayush: There are 27-unit offices including 5 Teaching Colleges, 3 Pharmacies, 3 Research Departments, 1 Drug Testing Laboratory, 2 Herbarium and 11 Hospitals apart from 834 Dispensaries. Under National AYUSH Mission
(NAM) on “Medicinal Plants”, raising of Model Nurseries, Cultivation, Post-Harvest Management and Value Addition, Quality Testing, Marketing, and Certification are the activities implemented in Telangana.
E-ICU: Electronic Intensive Care Unit (eICU) also referred to as “Tele ICU” is a form of telemedicine to provide an additional layer of critical care service in remote areas. 3,500 critical treated cases under e-ICU guidance in 2022. A state-of-the-art Command Control Centre is established at NIMS, Hyderabad.
Palliative Care Program: The government of Telangana has been at the forefront of incorporating palliative care into the state health system since 2017, and to date, 33 such centres are fully functional in Govt. facilities. Nearly one-fifth (33 out of 168) of government palliative care centres in India are in Telangana state.
Tele Mental Health: Launched 24×7 Tele-Mental Health Programme in October 2022. To date, 1027 calls were connected, 120 calls were transferred to a psychiatrist consultation and 107 were referred to the District mental health unit.
Management of Covid: Telangana is the first state to conduct a fever survey during the pandemic, which was appreciated by the Government of India and has been emulated by many states. Telangana has been the front runner in COVID vaccination. Telangana is 1st in the country in administering precautionary doses.
Health Infrastructure: The state government undertook many health infrastructure development projects during 2022 including Medical Colleges at Suryapet and Nalgonda, 29 Hospital upgrades under TVVP, 11 PHC constructions, and electrical & fire safety works.
The oxygen generation capacity which was 135 MT/day during COVID second wave has been increased to 332.6 MT/day during the second wave of COVID.
Subsidized Meals Programme: Free diet is being provided to patients in the hospitals by the Government, but patient’s attendants find it difficult to obtain food within hospital premises. The government has launched a scheme to provide three meals a day to attendants of patients in (18) major Government Hospitals at a nominal cost of Rs. 5 per meal. 8 lakh meals provided during the last 6 months.
Equipment Maintenance Programme: The Government has introduced an Equipment Maintenance Policy. As per the policy, all Biomedical Equipment which cost above Rs. 5 lakhs are classified into 3 categories and a PMU has been established.
IHFMS: Integrated Hospital Facility Management Services (IHFMS) have been launched with an enhanced rate of Rs. 7,500 per bed per month. Under these services, some hospitals were reserved for entrepreneurs/agencies belonging to persons from SC Community.
Dialysis Services: Free dialysis is provided to patients in Government hospitals. These centres are run in PPP mode under the Hub & Spoke model. 50 Lakh dialysis sessions have been conducted so far.
Aarogyasri: MoU for a converged scheme of “Ayushman Bharath PMJAY – Aarogyasri” was signed on 18 May 2021. The maximum coverage limit per family per annum has been increased from Rs. 2 lakhs to Rs. 5 lakhs.
Employees and Journalist Health Scheme is implemented to provide cashless treatment to all State Government employees, Pensioners, Journalists and all their dependent family members. There are 344 empanelled hospitals under this scheme and 12, 04,654 beneficiaries are enrolled.
Digital Health Initiatives: The State Government took up many digital health initiatives like Tele-ECG, e-ICUs, Tele-Manas, e-SNCUs, CCTV at PHCs, e-Sanjeevani and Shishu Aadhaar.
Recruitment: Realizing the need to fill vacancies in the Health Department on the directions of the Hon’ble Chief Minister, the Government has given permission to fill 12,522 direct recruitment vacancies on a regular basis. 969 doctor posts are already filled and notifications to fill up 1,147 Assistant professor posts and 5,200 Staff Nurse posts are issued.