The Hindu 13.08.2013
140 PHCs soon in Chennai
The city may soon get 140 modernised urban primary health centres.
Proposed
under the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM), the centres are likely
to emerge as stepping stones to evening clinics that will offer free
healthcare to women and children.
At least 40 of the
centres will be commissioned in the added areas of the Corporation —
Tiruvottiyur, Manali, Madhavaram, Ambattur, Valsaravakkam, Alandur,
Perungudi and Sholinganalur. The evening clinics will benefit more than
18 lakh residents belonging to the weaker sections in the 2,500 slums in
the city. “Hundreds of residents are forced to spend thousands on
primary healthcare in private hospitals. People from Madhavaram have to
go as far as Anna Nagar for medical help in the evening. Evening clinics
and primary health centres will be a boon to poor residents,” said M.
Kannadasan, councillor of a ward in Madhavaram.
The
Chennai Corporation identified gaps in the existing public healthcare
system. The Union Cabinet has already approved the Rs. 22,507-crore NUHM
project that seeks to focus on urban poor.
At least 40 of the health centres will be commissioned in the added areas of the Corporation.