CM YS Jagan includes 809 more procedures in Aarogyasri
Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy adds new treatments under Aarogyasri during a review of the medical and health department at his camp office in Tadepalli on Friday
Vijayawada: Bringing an additional 809 ailments and medical procedures under Aarogyasri umbrella, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy directed the medical and health department to ensure that the required number of doctors are present in all hospitals while ensuring that there are no scarcity of medicines.
During a review on the department on Friday, the Chief Minister after formally launching the additional services, said that the addition will take the total number of free medical services under Aarogyasri to 3,255.
The number of ailments treated under Aarogyasri, which stood at 1,059 during the TDP tenure went up to 2,059 in January 2020 after YSRCP came to power, then to 2,200 in July 2020 and 2,436 in November 2020 (with 235 procedures including bone marrow), to 2,446 (including 10 Covid pandemic procedures) in May-June 2021 and to 3,255 now.
Observing that the spending under Aarogyasri went up to Rs 3,481.70 crore, three times of what was spent during the TDP rule, he said that the scheme is being implemented prestigiously. With the government clearing pending bills of Aarogyasri instantly, all empanelled hospitals have become more confident and are extending medical services to all declared diseases.
He said that besides providing all facilities in hospitals, the government has filled up 46,000 vacancies in the department with the sole aim of extending quality medical services to the people and now it is the duty of the officials to make use of the facilities and staff in a proper manner without giving room for lethargy.
The Chief Minister asked the officials to introduce facial recognition attendance in the department while ensuring that sufficient number of doctors and medical staff are present in all hospitals.
Stressing the need to create block-level supervisory system to monitor the working of the staff in the department, the Chief Minister directed the officials to send suitable proposals. He also asked them to work in coordination with women and child welfare department and get regular reports on sanitation, air pollution, drinking water, cleanliness and toilet maintenance at anganwadis.
He said there is a need to pay special attention on high-risk pregnant women during delivery and anaemic women to bring down the health risks among them, while periodically updating the health history on all Aarogyasi cards for enabling family doctors to treat the patients effectively.