Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister talks about the health challenges of the state and the initiatives of the government
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister talks about the health challenges of the state and the initiatives of the government
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the Andhra Pradesh (AP) government by bringing in its own health insurance program YSR widened the scope of Ayushman Bharat scheme due to inadequacy of the number of procedures (1,000) covered by it. Is. Aarogyasri under which insurance is provided for 1,446 more procedures.
Responding to questions at a public session on ‘Future-Proofing Health Systems’ at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Monday, Mr Reddy said his government distributed 1.44 crore Aarogyasri cards annually to enable more families. Income limit raised to ₹5 lakh. A total of 2,446 procedures were performed under Aarogyasri. He said that in the last three years about 25 lakh families have been benefitted by this scheme.
Referring to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Reddy said that after learning a lot from the pandemic, the AP government has worked to take healthcare to the grassroots level through village secretariats and an army of volunteers and accredited social health workers. emphasized more.
During the two years of the pandemic, the CM said, 44 house-to-house surveys were conducted and almost all vulnerable people were vaccinated as preventive measures.
Mr Reddy said that by focusing on detection, testing and treatment of COVID patients, AP can achieve a mortality rate of 0.63%, which is the lowest among all states as compared to the national level of 1.21%.
He said that 16 new medical colleges are being established along with hospitals to meet the shortage of super specialty hospitals after the bifurcation of the state. He said that Andhra Pradesh being a newly formed state lacks tertiary care.
Rural clinics were being set up for every 2,000 population. In addition, primary health centers are being strengthened, with each doctor assigned to a designated village to take care of people there every week, Mr Reddy told the audience.
This will eventually mold doctors into ‘family physicians’ who can call patients by name and get to know each health problem individually, he said.
AstraZeneca AB President Leif Johansson, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell, Access to Medicine Foundation CEO Jayshree K. Iyer and Shanti Ashram President KJevino Aram were other distinguished speakers.