Hyderabad: Urban primary health centres (UPHCs) under GHMC limits are in need of a boost and infusion of fresh hands. For, most of them are either in a dysfunctional state, short of medicines or make do with little staff.
There are 85 UPHCs in the city meant to provide preventive health care, antenatal care (ANC), post-natal care (PNC), immunisation, family planning, cure for minor ailments and conduct disease control programmes.
As per the norms, there should be at least one UPHC for 10,000 population, but the city has one UPHC for about 40,000-60,000 population and just five doctors where 25 are required. Each UPHC must consist of a medical officer, a public health care nurse, three to eight auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM), a class-four employee to maintain records and about a dozen Asha workers.
According to an official report, however, UPHCs have 350-odd hospital employees currently against a requirement of 2,700. The civic body has been spending Rs 86 lakh annually on salaries and Rs 29 lakh on maintenance charges i.e. electricity, water and others.
Patients at UPHCs have long alleged that there are hardly any medicines at the centres and most of the equipment and machines necessary for diagnosis and treatment are not in a working condition. Patients biggest complaint is that there are very few doctors, if any, at the health centres.
K. Shanta, who visited a UPHC in Gaganmahal, said she was surprised to know that the hospital was not functioning as it was undergoing renovation. She learnt that the renovation work had begun in June 2016 and was going on till date. She said she was forced to take treatment in a private clinic in the vicinity. “I cannot afford treatment in private hospital but I have no other choice because of the absence of a doctor and other staff at the UPHC.”
The situation is similar in Musheerabad UPHC. The renovation work there has been going on for about 30 months. A. Subhashini, a resident of Musheerabad, said the UPHC in the vicinity is short of medicines, not even for simple cold and fever. She said that the staff there have been advising people to go to Gandhi Hospital for better facilities.
“We were asked to visit Gandhi for better treatment, when UPHCs are supposed to provide basic treatment and medicine,” Ms Subhashini said.
When asked, additional commissioner (health) Sikta Patnaik said the GHMC along with Hyderabad district collectorate are in the process of recruiting about 800 hospital staff under National Urban Health Mission (NUHM), and in a few weeks all UPHCs in the city would be equipped with trained staff, stocks of medicines etc.
