Public health has been one of the priority sectors of the KCR-led Telangana government since the state formation especially after the havoc wreaked globally by the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus has crumbled the public health infrastructure across the world and hospitals faced an acute shortage of beds. But, the Telangana government has turned the adversity into opportunity by placing renewed focus on improving the public health infrastructure in the state.
Unlike anywhere in the country, many super specialty hospitals are being constructed in the state simultaneously. This is in addition to the hospitals attached to newly-opened medical colleges. Before the state formation, Telangana had only five medical colleges. After KCR came into power, 12 new colleges were opened, and the construction of nine more colleges are under progress. In a record of sorts, CM KCR inaugurated 8 medical colleges in a single day. Resultantly, Telangana now has the highest per-capita availability of medical seats in the country with 19 seats available for every one lakh population.
Moreover, a new medical college means a new hospital and each of these colleges has a 500-bedded hospital attached to them. Very soon, the state will have a medical college in every district making quality medical education and health care facilities affordable and accessible.
A look at the new massive health care facilities being constructed in Telangana will tell us how the BRS government is revolutionizing the public health care system. Three super specialty hospitals with 2000 beds each are under construction at Alwal, Gaddi Annaram and Erragadda in Hyderabad. The works of Warangal Health City, a 24-storeyed super specialty hospital with 2000 beds, are going on at a rapid pace. In addition, the Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) is getting ready for extension with a new 2000 bed-facility.
This list is not exhaustive. The Basti Dawakhana network which caters to the urban poor is getting expanded with an additional 500 new clinics across the state. These Basti Dawakhanas are offering 53 various types of health services in urban areas and reducing the burden on other public health facilities.
Also, to prevent the patients from running to private diagnostic centers for various tests, the Telangana government has started 20 district-level diagnostic hubs. 57 types of tests are available at these hubs operated in hub-and-spoke model. The health department also started 104 dialysis centers across Telangana to serve dialysis patients. On an average, these centers conduct 6 lakh dialysis sessions every year.
All these proactive initiatives, infrastructure upgradation, and schemes such as KCR Kits, KCR Nutrition Kits, Kanti Velugu, to name a few, have led to a remarkable improvement in various health indices in the state. The increasing trust in government health care facilities is getting reflected in the rise of institutional deliveries. The births in government hospitals have increased from 30.5% in 2015 to 61% in 2022. The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) was reduced from 35 in 2014 to 21 in 2020 and the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) was dipped from 81 in 2014-16 to 43 in 2018-2020. Consequently, Telangana achieved the Sustainable Development Goal – 3 in good health and wellbeing.
As CM KCR envisioned, Aarogya Telangana is soon becoming a reality with the state becoming a frontrunner in improving public health care infrastructure.
By: Mythreya Kodakandla