The Social Democratic Forum released a health manifesto outlining crucial agenda points of the Telangana health sector on Tuesday. The forum requested the State government to double the health budget, increasing it from the current 4.1% of total allocation to 8%. Additionally, they propose the construction of a 200-bed super specialty hospital in each Assembly constituency.
Presently, there is only one diagnostic centre available for approximately 8,125 people, but the SDF proposes a new benchmark of one centre per 5000 people. These centre should have an area of 2600 square feet and be staffed with one ANM, GNM, and a lab technician. The manifesto further emphasises the strengthening of existing primary health centres (PHCs), advocating three doctors to be available round the clock in each PHC. This arrangement would ensure two doctors are present during the day and one at night, ready to handle emergencies effectively. Akunuri Murali, convenor of SDF, also highlighted a critical point concerning the capacity of government hospitals. To optimise service delivery, he proposed banning private practice for doctors and instead offering them allowances.
To improve interdepartmental cooperation, the Government should hire 50 IT professionals where one professional is allocated to each of the 33 districts and remaining 17 work from Hyderabad. This would enable remote consultations and medical support through video-conferencing, alleviating the burden on patients who would otherwise have to travel from districts to Hyderabad for treatment.
