PUSH FOR PUBLIC HEALTH

When Dr Deepak Sawant took over as Maharashtra health minister in December 2014, he already had a roadmap for improving healthcare in the state. Having worked in tribal areas for more than a decade, that is where he decided to start from. In 2015, he introduced the Shiv Arogya Tele Medicine facility for patients in tribal regions, which could help them access second opinion on a line of treatment from a group of 25 medical experts sitting in Mumbai hospitals. The patients’ medical history, treatment and reports of various tests are sent online via VSAT. Their X- ray, MRI and ECG reports too can be accessed online.

Maharashtra’s allocation of 10 per cent of its budget to public health is showing results. In 2016, the infant mortality rate ( IMR) in the state was 19 deaths per thousand births, improving from 24 deaths in 2013, 22 in 2014 and 21 in 2015. As for the maternity mortality rate ( MMR), it has been constant at 68 deaths per one lakh live births in this time. And all thanks to the vaccination drives and institutional ( in government and private hospitals) instead of home deliveries— 90.3 per cent of deliveries were institutional in 2016. Special attention to areas like Jawhar and Mokhada near Mumbai which reported 93 infant deaths in 2015 due to malnourishment also bore fruit. In 2016, the number came down to 38.

The health department’s radical idea to tie up with private companies for repair of medical equipment in government hospitals has also paid off. In the past eight months, some 13,000 pieces of equipment have been repaired, helping speed up surgeries.

The state government has also developed a social welfare model using healthcare facilities. Its flagship health scheme for people below the poverty line— the Mahatma Phule Jan Arogya Yojana— has been extended to cover serious ailments pertaining to heart and lungs to accommodate more patients. At present, the number of beneficiaries under this scheme has gone up to 24.2 million, which is a new record.

The bike ambulance service launched earlier this year has proved to be a blessing for patients in congested areas where ambulances cannot enter. Doctors have been trained as riders who can handle emergency situ-

“A good network of health centres has improved healthcare in rural areas. Bringing IMR below 10 is my next goal.” DR DEEPAK SAWANT Minister for Health, Maharashtra