CM Stalin to relaunch preventive medical care scheme today
About 1,000 medical camps with six specialities would be organised across the State, said Health Minister Ma Subramanian
CHENNAI: After remaining non-functional for about a decade, Varumun Kappom, a preventive medical care scheme to screen people for diseases, would be re-launched on Wednesday. It was originally launched in 2006 by late chief minister M Karunanidhi but was discontinued after the regime change.
After it is relaunched by Chief Minister MK Stalin on Wednesday, about 1,000 medical camps with six specialities would be organised across the State, said Health Minister Ma Subramanian.
“Three camps will be organised in each of the 385 wards in Tamil Nadu. If need arises, we will organise more camps,” he said. Fifteen camps will be organised in Chennai, while other Corporations and municipalities would have three camps each.
The Chief Minister has instructed the department to ensure speedy construction of the new medical colleges, said Subramanian, adding that officials were conducting regular inspections on the progress.
“Of the 11 new medical colleges, central government officials have asked for several improvements in the case of Dindigul, Ariyalur, Nagapattinam and Kallakurichi colleges. This work will be over in the next few days, and we will again call the central team to re-inspect the medical colleges,” he said.
The Union government has approved 150 medical seats each in Ooty, Kallakurichi and Virudhunagar, and 100 seats each in Namakkal, Tiruvallur, Tirupur and Ramanathapuram medical colleges.
Talking about the vaccination drive in the State, he said it would go on in all the districts as nine lakh vaccine doses were expected from the Centre. However, due to the Gram Sabha meetings scheduled for this Sunday, the fourth mega vaccination drive was likely to be postponed for next week, he added. Subramanian added that the department was likely to deploy 4,000 healthcare workers for the expansion of Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam initiative.