Patna: Union minister of state for health Ashwini Kumar Choubey on Saturday inaugurated the first two health and wellness centres in Buxar district - a urban health centre in Buxar and a health sub-centre at Sikraul - under the Centre's Ayushman Bharat Scheme.

Altogether 534 facilities are to be upgraded as health and wellness centres across 38 districts (334 additional primary health centres, 176 sub-centres and 24 urban primary health centres) in 2018-19. These shall be operationalised by March 2019.

"The centre will have an MBBS doctor, a staff nurse, two auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs), a lab technician, a pharmacist and a data entry officer," said Choubey, inaugurating the Buxar centre.

He added: "The centres will be equipped to provide primary health care. Apart from getting outpatient consultation, one can avail consultation through telemedicine facility. The centres would also conduct various tests for cervical and breast cancer among 19 types of tests.

"Medicines for blood pressure, sugar and cardiac ailments are also supposed to be available. Ante-natal and post natal check-up will also be available and vaccination and all information related to newborn babies will be provided at these centres."

He said yoga and wellness programmes will also be run by the centres. Pregnant women will be acquainted with delivery related problems, family planning. Adolescents will be counselled.

IVF centre

Indira IVF Patna's chief embryologist Dr Dayanidhi spoke of rising fertility cases among men and women at a programme organised by Indira IVF at a city hotel on Saturday.

He attributed lifestyle issues and delayed marriage for this. Health minister Mangal Pandey inaugurated the programme and stressed on the importance of infertility clinics.