Dengue has become a menace and has posed a serious threat to the lives of people. On a daily basis, fresh cases are being reported from different parts of the state. How is your department combating it?
We have taken measures to combat the menace on a war footing. The health department, in co-ordination with other departments such as industries, steel and mines, panchayati raj and urban and housing development, are making a sustained effort to clean up the affected areas. We have launched a special awareness programme, MDM (malaria, dengue and diarrhoea), and on a weekly basis, we are monitoring the developments. If you look at the statistics, the number of dengue patients is substantially low as compared to last year.
What are the other steps that have been taken to treat dengue patients?
Dedicated teams have been deployed in the three medical colleges as well as Capital Hospital to deal with dengue cases. Beds have been earmarked. We are also conducting free blood tests and providing free platelets to patients. We are getting good results. Of the 260 patients admitted to the state’s premier health institute, SCB Medical College and Hospital, 210 patients have already been cured and returned home. More than 70 per cent of the patients have come from outside the state, particularly from Hyderabad, Delhi and Mumbai.
Another issue that confronts the state government is the number of deaths at the state’s premier medical institute. Since a month, Sishu Bhavan has been in the limelight for the wrong reasons.
Sishu Bhavan is the only referral hospital for children in the state. Apart from meeting the needs of the state, it also caters to the demands of three other states - Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. Highly critical patients from various nursing homes are referred to Sishu Bhavan. If you compare the infant mortality figures of other paediatric hospitals with that of Sishu Bhavan, it’s quite less. We are concerned about the deaths. Now more than 100 doctors are working at the paediatric hospital. We have deployed another 100 staff nurses there. In fact, after the introduction of 108 and 102 ambulances, patient flow has increased in the past two years. People from far and inaccessible areas are now able to reach the hospital. On an average, 15,000 children come to Sishu Bhavan for treatment every month. Last year, around 1.5 lakh patients had come for treatment.
Despite all these measures, there have been deaths. How will you deal with this?
We have both short and long-term plans. As part of short-term measures, we have augmented the staff strength. Now, we have decided to build another dedicated building with modern facilities. The number of beds at the ICU and in general wards will be enhanced. Around Rs 30 crore will be spent on this. We have already taken steps to purchase equipment worth Rs 5 crore. As far as the state’s infant mortality rate reduction is concerned, our efforts have received appreciations from the central government.
Your department must be under pressure after Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi visited the hospital on September 11 and the infant mortality became a national issue. Almost all parties had sent their representatives to visit the hospital.
I cannot make any comment on Rahul’s visit to Sishu Bhavan. Everyone has the right to visit the hospital. One can make positive suggestions to the government to improve the facilities. However, no attempts should be made to politicise the issue and malign the state’s only paediatric hospital. But I have noticed how some elements tried their best to defame the hospital, thereby indirectly helping the cause of private hospitals. It will only harm the cause of the poor and needy patients. Before criticising, I wish they had gone deeper into the matter and identified the root cause and compared the mortality figures with other paediatric hospitals and figures of previous years. Then they would not have resorted to such nasty politics and did such tamasha (farce). Each child admitted to this hospital is our child and his/her life is precious to us. Our department is concerned about the lives of the children.
After Rahul Gandhi, the BJP also took up the issue and even burnt your effigies for the alleged lapses in the hospital…
I always invite constructive suggestions from the Opposition, both inside and outside the Assembly. Instead of giving suggestions, if you try to settle political scores, it’s wrong. We have streamlined the administration. But the way some leaders have tried to gain political mileage by making Sishu Bhavan the target is wrong. A BJP leader who had fought against me in the last Assembly elections had even stooped down to the personal level and criticised me on this issue. I think he has used this issue to regain his political identity. In my opinion, health issues should not be used for petty politics. The way few political activists took this issue to corner me is unfortunate and uncalled for.
We have noticed that the health care sector has been badly affected because of the shortage of doctors. How are you addressing the issue?
We are taking several steps to overcome this problem. We are opening five new government medical colleges in different parts of the state. The work is on and most of these medical colleges will be ready by the end of 2017. The chief minister has directed us to create the required infrastructure and human resources to meet the challenges of the health sector and complete the construction of the medical college in a time-bound manner.
Your party has started voluntary blood donation programme Jiban Bindu. Why have you initiated such an initiative?
People are suffering in the country due to shortage of blood. To mitigate the problem, our party, on the direction of the chief minister, has initiated the Jiban Bindu programme. In the past six months, we have collected more than 40,000 units of blood. Generally, during summer, health institutions face scarcity of blood and the blood collected through the Jiban Bindu programme will definitely help overcome the shortage. The government has also launched Niramaya, a scheme under which 570 different medicines are being provided free of cost to patients in government hospitals.
Though a number of private hospitals have come up in the state, people are still not getting the required benefits. We have seen how a private hospital did not release a baby after treatment and another detained the body of noted singer Nizam for the non-payment of dues.
We have received several complaints against private hospitals, particularly about their behaviour towards patients. We are in the process of amending the Clinical Establishment Act, the weapon through which we can take serious action against them. We are not sitting idle on the issue. The government has taken steps against some private medical institutions, and even the owners of some private hospitals have been put behind bars.
Private hospitals need to follow the government guidelines. They need to display their rate chart and cannot charge exorbitant fees from patients. Some hospitals have allegedly been involved in the illegal transplantation of organs. The police have detected some cases related to illegal kidney sale…
The government is more concerned about poor patients. Any violation of the Clinical Establishment Act will be taken seriously. The Assembly, in the last session, enacted stringent laws to regulate organ transplantation. We have also adopted the Transplant of Human Organs and Tissues (Amendment) Act, 2011, to streamline organ transplants and prevent illegal organ sale. Under this Act, there is a provision to punish doctors who carry out illegal transplants. The imprisonment has been extended from five years to 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 20 lakh could be imposed.
Despite regulations, there are government doctors who are indulging in private practice. Why is your department not taking any steps against them?
A year ago, we dismissed 67 doctors for unethical practice. Some senior doctors were also booked on criminal charges. The government will not spare anybody who play with the lives of patients.
Doctors are not going to the backward Koraput, Balangir and Kalahandi (KBK) districts.
It’s a matter of concern. To attract doctors to the KBK region, the government has announced special incentive schemes. We have almost doubled their pay packages. Still, there is some problem, mainly because of the shortage of doctors. But we will overcome these problems in the coming days.
