Coimbatore, Nov. 17
"The World bank has agreed to fund Rs. 2600 crore for infrastructural development of government hospitals in Tamil Nadu. Shortly, government hospitals in Coimbatore, Salem and Trichy would be upgraded into state-of-the- art health centres as in Chennai" said Health Minister Dr. C. Vijayabaskar here on today.
He was here to attend an international conference on bariatric surgery organised by Gem Hospitals.
The Minister said "In the recent days,mortality rate due to obesity, blood pressure, diabetes and poor life style is more than that of the mortality due to infectious diseases. Statistics say that 10-13% of the population suffer from obesity-related ailments. Hence, it is important to stay fit."
After the conference, the Minister visited the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH). He inspected the dengue wards and interacted with the patients to know if they were taken care of well. Surprisingly, a woman from the ward interrupted the Minister and complained of the treatment administered to her. She also urged him to direct the doctors to take good care of patients.
The nursing staff at CMCH who staged a demonstration for staff shortage requested the Minister to look into the issue and pass orders for new appointments.
Talking to media after his visit, Dr.Vijayabasker said that "Going forward, the infrastructural and treatment standards at CMCH would be enhanced considerably, as Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has agreed to allot Rs. 286 crore for CMCH".
He also stated that 536 dengue detection devices had already been provided to government and primary health centres to detect dengue at a very early stage itself.
"Soon, more of those devices would be delivered to other hospitals, as well", he assured.
"As advised by the World Bank to strictly monitor and bring down infant mortality rate from 19 per thousand to 10, we are at it and are certain to achieve this rate by 2030", the Minsiter said.