The Times of India 11.11.2009

H1N1: PMC submits proposal for 1,000 beds

Umesh Isalkar, TNN 11 November 2009, 05:11am IST

PUNE: With swine flu claiming over 100 lives and a second wave imminent, the civic body-run hospitals and dispensaries are all set for a major facelift.

"A proposal for additional 1,000 beds, with 100 beds for intensive care units (ICUs), was recently submitted to the state government as part of the city's preparation for the possible second wave of the H1N1 flu," said R R Pardeshi, deputy health officer of the PMC. Importantly, none of the PMC hospitals has an ICU facility. This proposal is also in contrast to the civic body's earlier policy of slow and steady privatisation of medical facilities.

Confirming the plans, Devendra Shirole, former president of the state unit of Indian Medical Association (IMA) said, "This is a significant step. Now that the proposal has been submitted, the state government should expedite the process of granting an approval which, in turn, will help the civic body upgrade its health care system in view of the second wave."

"Thinking of strengthening the public healthcare system at a time when the pandemic has claimed over 100 lives is unfortunate. The decision should have been taken earlier. It's time PMC authorities realise the value of its own healthcare system," said cardiologist Abhijit Vaidya, who is the national chief of Arogya Sena - a social organisation that fights for common man's health rights.

On the state of affairs prevailing at the public healthcare centres all these years, Vaidya said the civic body invested little efforts and money to improve the long prevailing conditions like lack of medicines, absence of medical equipment, unhygienic conditions etc. Similarly, least attention was paid to upgrading facilities at these hospitals and dispensaries.

"Healthcare facilities at civic hospitals are virtually non-existent. The municipal administration seems to be gradually washing hands off this public responsibility. All this indicates to social welfare rollback policy of the PMC," said Vaidya.

The public health care network of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has around 29 dispensaries, 14 maternity homes and two major hospitals. Besides, a few of these dispensaries and maternity homes also house family planning centres, mother-child care centre, immunisation centres, ant-rabies vaccine centre and projects of integrated child development centre.

"There has to be at least one nurse for every ten beds in a hospital. And 30 doctors for every 100-bed hospital. But most of these civic hospitals are short of nurses and doctors," said Vaidya.

Some of these civic hospitals, dispensaries and maternity homes are well constructed buildings. While some are old structures maintaining reasonably good shape even after so many years, said Vaidya.

Network of public health care system provided by the civic body:

* Dispensaries: 29

* Maternity Homes: 14

* Hospitals: 02


Total number of beds available: 775

Average annual bed occupancy : 500

Annual number of indoor patients: 19,104

Annual number of OPD patients: 23,150

Staff:

Number of medical officers: 111

Nurses: 330

(Source: Office of health officer, Pune Municipal Corporation)

The Hindu 11.11.2009

Water stagnation perennial problem at Ezhil Nagar

Priti Narayan

PUDUCHERRY: The recent rains have brought into focus a civic problem that has come up every monsoon season but has not been addressed effectively yet. Residents of Ezhil Nagar say that every year, water has been entering their homes during monsoon, because of the low-level main canal in the area.

“Water from Lawspet, Karuvadikuppam and many parts of town drains into this canal, which is perhaps more than it can handle,” says Meenakshi, a resident of the area for many years. “The canal is on a low-level and very shallow. It also gets clogged often with garbage. As a result, water doesn’t drain off our roads,” she says.

Even though the canal is desilted during the monsoons, there is no respite for the residents.

“Last weekend, when the rain was at its worst, there was knee-deep water on the road,” says Navin, another resident.

The roads are also in low-level, which results in water entering households every monsoon, causing hardship to the residents. “Our houses are built considerably above the height of the roadside drains. What else can we do? Water even entered the ration shops this year and destroyed several bags of rice and sugar,” says another resident.

Unless the height of the canal and the roads is not increased, this problem will continue to exist, residents believe. Meenakshi says that although an initiative to raise the height of the canal was taken a few years back, it did not materialise.

Another problem in Ezhil Nagar and many parts of the nearby Suryagandhi Nagar is the lack of proper roads. The roads dotted with numerous potholes are a major breeding ground for mosquitoes in the rainy season.

The ‘kuchcha’ roads also get slushy and slippery for people to use, residents complain.

Officials of the Public Works Department said that the department was in the process of preparing a detailed project report to improve all the 19 town canals under its purview, as part of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Officials of the Oulgaret Municipality said that they are currently arranging for funds to address the problem of bad roads in the area.