Approval received to open medical colleges in 15 Raj districts: Health Min

Rajasthan Health Minister Dr Raghu Sharma said that approval has been received to open medical colleges in 15 districts.

"The state government's planning is that there should be a Medical College in each district. Thus, approval has been received to open Medical Colleges in 15 districts," Sharma said on Friday, according to an official release.

"At present, 8 medical colleges in the private sector have been opened and there are only three districts, which do not have any Government Medical College. The State government is making all efforts to open medical colleges in these districts," he said.

He emphasised that the government is working on every point at the micro-level by which Rajasthan could become an example in the entire country in the health sector.

"Rajasthan is becoming a leading state with the efforts of the state government. Special steps are being taken up by the government in the field of healthcare, health infrastructure and health manpower under the strong leadership of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. The government is not leaving any stone unturned in providing better health facilities to the general public by facing all the challenges," he said.

The Health Minister further spoke about COVID-19 and said that till now over 22 lakh tests have been done in Rajasthan and the capacity to conduct 51,640 tests per day in the state has been developed.

He said testing facilities have been developed in 22 districts of the state and soon corona testing will start in all the remaining districts.

The Health Minister said the state government is providing lifesaving injections worth Rs 40,000 free of cost to the serious patients.

"The recovery ratio of Rajasthan is better compared to other states in the country. At present, approximately 80 per cent of patients have recovered from the disease and gone home. Also, the COVID-19 fatality rate in the state is just at 1.3 per cent," Sharma said.

"A new lease of life has been given to around 211 serious patients through Plasma Therapy in 5 Medical Colleges in the state. With this therapy, 99 per cent of patients have recovered," he said while urging people who have recovered from the disease to step forward to donate plasma.

Dr Sharma said that the state government started the Nirogi Rajasthan (Healthy Rajasthan) campaign to make residents of the state healthy.

"To make the general public aware of good health, Swasthya Mitras have been made in 40,000 revenue villages by selecting one male and one female. These 80,000 Swasthya Mitras are helping during the corona time and also working to make people aware of the other national programmes. Swasthya Mitras will be selected soon in cities also," he said.

Highlighting that more than 82 per cent of children are being vaccinated on time, he said efforts are being made to achieve a 100 per cent target of vaccination in the state.

The state government has "completed the recruitment of 765 doctors".

"Now the work on recruiting 2,000 doctors is going on. Around 12,500 auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM)-GNM have been appointed in the state by completing the recruitment work," he said.