TN to set up Virology labs in four medical college hospitals

In a bid to avoid delay in diagnosing diseases such as Dengue, Chickungunya and swine flu in the state, Tamil Nadu government would soon set up Molecular Virology Laboratories in Medical College Hospitals in Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore and Tirunelveli.
Making a suo motu statement in the Assembly, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said laboratories would be set up in four medical college hospitals at a cost of Rs two crore each.
"This scheme would be implemented rapidly in all medical college hospitals in the state," she said.
King's Institute in Chennai was the only lab to diagnose epidemics thorugh IgM, ELISA tests in the state, she said.

The government also allocated Rs 15 crore to improve infrastructure facilities in government colleges for Indian Medicine in the state, Rs 10 crore for human resources and infrastructure in Government Anna Hospital for Indian Medicine and another Rs 12 crore for opening a research and development unit for Indian medicine, the Chief Minister said.
The government would open lifestyle clinics at a cost of Rs 9.60 crore, which would follow yoga, naturopathy, water therapy, mud therapy, food therapy and acupuncture medical systems to treat blood pressure, diabetes, heart diseases, cancer and backbone related ailments.

In order to check the fake certificates among Indian medicine graduates, the government would put in place a URL and 2 D Bar Code technology to check the authenticity of the certificates at a cost of Rs 15 lakh, she said.

To form a database of patients in 43 hospitals attached to 18 medical and one dental colleges in the state, government would implement a computerised Medical Data Management and Hospital Management Projects with a central server at a cost of Rs 22.58 crore, the Chief Minister said.
The government would also develop 15 government hospitals in 15 districts without government medical college at a cost of Rs 18.51 crore, she said, adding that Community-based Pain Relief and Palliative Care units would be set up in all districts at Rs 16.50 crore.
A total of Rs 12.28 crore was earmarked for maternal medical care to open special units in 55 government hospitals in the state, she said.