The State Cabinet, which met here, decided to create 1,063 new posts in rural hospitals and set up a special cell to deal with issues related to oral health care.
Latest equipment will be put in place and well trained medical professionals appointed at these health centres, official sources said.
The Cabinet expressed concern at the growing tendency among younger generation to get addicted to tobacco and smoking. Oral cancer accounts for 48 per cent of the total patients suffering from the dreaded disease.
There are 16,000 registered dentists and 32 dental colleges, three of them Government-run, in the state. Every year, 1,400 to 1500 dentists graduate from these colleges. However, 75 per cent of them practice in urban areas and only 25 per cent in rural. The Government wants to bridge this gap and provide good oral health care in rural areas, they said.
Root canal treatment, cosmetic dentistry, surgery of gums, oral cancer treatment will be some of the facilities which will be provided in 23 district, three general and 24 sub-district hospitals in rural areas, the sources said.
Speaking after the meeting, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said he has directed that agriculture pumps in water reservoirs be shut down to make water available for drinking.
He said the lack of sufficient rains and shortage of drinking water in the state was a cause of concern.
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