UPHCs will help reduce burden on govt hospitals: Collector

PNS|GUNTUR

District Collector M Venugopal Reddy has said that the Urban Primary Health Centres (UPHCs) will help reduce the burden on the government hospitals. MLA and former home minister Mekathoti Sucharita, Collector M Venugopal Reddy and Municipal Commissioner Keerthi Chekuri inaugurated Urban Primary Health Centre (UPHC) constructed in Swarnadhranagar Janmabhoomi colony near here on Friday. They also laid the foundation stone for the construction of the SC community hall, CC roads and drains.

Speaking on the occasion, Collector Venugopal Reddy said the UPHCs would help to reduce the burden on the Government General Hospitals. He said that the government is giving top priority to the education and medical sectors. In order to provide better medical services to the people in rural areas, the government is introducing the ‘family doctor concept’ and Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy would formally launch the same in January 2023.

Collector Venugopal Reddy said that out of 49 UPHCs in the district, 32 UPHCs were newly constructed and 17 centres were renovated. He said that the government had allocated Rs 80 lakh for the construction of UPHC and Rs 20 lakh for providing medical equipment. The Collector informed that the 104 medical services are being made available to the rural areas and these steps would help to reduce the burden on the government hospitals considerably. He asked people to utilize the medical services being provided through urban health centres. Former home minister and MLA Mekathoti Sucharita said that the foundation stone was laid today to construct a community hall at a cost of Rs 30 lakh and drains at a cost of Rs 67 lakhs at the colony.

She disclosed that a UPHC was sanctioned to Gujjanagundla but it was being constructed at Swarna Bharat Nagar since the land was not available there. She claimed that the UPHCs would be a boon for the denizens. She said that seven UPHC were sanctioned to the Prathipadu constituency of which six centres had been inaugurated and another would be inaugurated soon.

Sucharita said that 17 medical colleges are coming up in the state and the credit for the same should go to the Chief Minister. Mayor Kavati Manohar Naidu said that 16 UPHCs were sanctioned to Guntur city itself of which 13 centres had been inaugurated and the remaining three would be inaugurated soon. The Mayor said that 260 UPHCs are being established across the state to augment medical services to the people. DMHO Dr Sumaya Khan and CMO&H Dr Vijayalakshmi were among those who were present.