Himachal to launch ambulance for expectant mothers

Himachal Pradesh government will soon launch a drop-back ambulance service for expectant mothers and children up to one year of age, an official said Sunday.

There is a plan to provide facility of 125 ambulances to the health institutions for this, a government spokesperson told IANS.

The state has already hired the GVK-EMRI (Emergency Management Research Institute), a Hyderabad-based company, to run the ambulance service and the ambulances for the expectant mothers would be an additional service.

He said the state government has given top priority to the health sector.

A new 100-bed block is being constructed at a cost of Rs.16.50 crore in Kamla Nehru Mother and Child Care Hospital in Shimla. Besides, another 100-bed block dedicated for mother and child hospital is being set up in Zonal Hospital in Mandi town with an expenditure of Rs.5 crore.

The spokesperson said the tele-stroke management programme has been launched for the first time in the state on a pilot basis in collaboration with All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Under this programme, AIIMS would establish 18 primary stroke centres in the hospitals where the facility of CT scan is available to identify the symptoms of brain stroke and provide treatment.

He said training has been given to 120 doctors to handle brain stroke cases. Six patients have been treated under this programme.

To provide specialized health services to the people living in far-flung areas, mobile diagnostic units are being established in 10 districts.

The hill state has also made it mandatory for doctors in government hospitals and dispensaries to prescribe generic rather than certain branded drugs.

Officials said the government has prepared an essential drug list comprising 314 formulations which would make available 430 drugs to the patients.

To know about the highest prescribers for certain branded drugs, the government is going to periodically audit doctors' prescriptions.