Harish Rao accuses govt. of making primary healthcare services sick

HYDERABAD

Former minister and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader T. Harish Rao has alleged that the Congress Government has completely failed in extending even basic/primary healthcare services to the poor and the closure/locking of the health and wellness centre at Keesara in Dammaiguda Municipality in Medchal-Malkajigiri district is an indication.

The functioning of ‘basthi dawakhanas’ (‘mohalla’ clinics) was in a very bad shape not only in Hyderabad but combined districts such as Nizamabad, Adilabad and Mahabubnagar as the government was badly neglecting them. In a statement, Mr. Harish Rao sought to know on Thursday as to why the outpatient numbers had come down badly both in ‘palle and basthi dawakhanas’.

He stated that while the previous BRS Government had tried to treat the health issues of people, the Congress Government was making the ‘palle and basthi dawakhanas’ sick with their neglect. The previous government had opened about 500 such ‘mohalla’ clinics in Hyderabad and elsewhere in the State as also in villages.

The BRS leader stated that the ‘basthi dawakhanas’ had also won accolades from the 15^th Finance Commission. The previous BRS Government had also opened T-Diagnostic centres to conduct 134 health tests free of cost, but now they were also not functioning properly forcing the poor to run to the private diagnostic centres and hospitals for treatment of their health issues.

The ‘basthi and palle dawakhanas’ and T-Diagnostic centres were plagued with problems such as doctors were not regular to check the out-patients, shortage of medicines, particularly for issues such as blood pressure, diabetes, thyroid and others, lack of lab technicians’ availability and server problems, Mr. Harish Rao said and requested the government to to address the issues immediately to extend quality and timely healthcare services to the poor.