As a vital step in improving the public health in the city, the Kochi
Corporation with the help of National Urban Health Mission (NUHM), will
set up 13 urban primary health centres in the city.
The Union
Government took a decision recently to form NUHM as a new sub-mission
under the National Health Mission NHM). As per the scheme, one Urban
Primary Health Centre is mandatory for a population of 50,000.
“Our
plan is to convert the existing Mother and Child Welfare centres in the
city into Urban Primary Health centres (UPHC). The 13 facilities will
be converted into UPH centres. The total fund allocation by NUHM for
setting up the PHCs is Rs 1 crore,” said an official with the Kochi
Corporation.
As per the NUMH guidelines, it is also mandatory to
set up one Urban Community Health Centre for five to six primary health
centres in big cities. “Hence Kochi will have two such facilities.
Besides, one auxiliary nursing midwife should be appointed for every
10,000 people and one accredited social health activist (ASHA worker)
for 200 to 500 households,” he said. Each health centre will have an
experienced doctor, nurses and other medical staff. “Treatment other
than the specialised will be offered at the centres. The existing
buildings will be renovated before being converted into UPH centres,”
said the official.
The NUMH will also extend support to the
civic body in organising medical camps, including child medical camps
and awareness camps. A woman medical officer will also be appointed as
part of the scheme.
The estimated cost of the NUHM scheme for the
first five-year period is Rs 22,507 crore. The Union Government will
pump in Rs 16,955 crore as its share for the projects under the scheme.
