Chennai: Tamilnadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday extend the highly successful healthcare at the doorstep scheme, ‘Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam’, to urban centres of the State.
He formally inaugurated a centre at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai city in the presence of Health Minister Ma Subramanian and Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan.
The healthcare at the doorstep scheme was first launched in Krishnagiri district by the Chief Minister on August five and it proved highly beneficial for the people in the rural areas.
In just two months into the launch, more than 15 lakh people in the rural areas had been covered under the scheme, which was intended to providing quality healthcare to rurla populace at their doorsteps.
After the State government decided to extend the scheme to the people in the urban areas, the Chief Minister Friday inaugurated the centre at RGGGH.
The scheme will now be implemented in all urban centres across the State with the respective general hospitals as the nodal point.
All people who approach the General hospitals will be covered under the scheme, under which about one crore were targetted to be covered by the end of this year.
When the scheme was launched on 5 August, it was intended to cover all those people above 45 years of age and others with infirmities through routine door-to-door checkups and to detect noncommunicable diseases.
Stalin said Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam was also part of the 7-point vision of his government that envisioned an ‘enhanced quality of life for all.’
‘Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam will bring in an era of healthcare delivery, where people need not come to the hospitals, but have access to medicine and screening at their doorstep,’ he added.
Through the scheme, high blood pressure and diabetes, both of which go largely undetected in the villages will be screened and monthly medicines will be provided at the doorstep.
Similarly, physiotherapy will be given to those that are in need of care. The scheme will also include screening of kidney ailments and congenital defects in children and will be followed up through hospital treatment, Stalin said and added that in due course, dialysis will also be provided to those with kidney ailments through portable dialysis machines.
During the function, Stalin also inaugurated hi tech screening of hearing loss equipment at Tiruchiarapalli and krishnagiri hospitals through video confercing and distributed hearing aid machines to elders and children.