VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh government is planning to promote health hubs at as many as 16 places across the state to attract major private hospitals to increase people’s access to better medical and health services. It will come out with a policy in a month.
Announcing the initiative on Friday, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy said a large number of people from the state were going to Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore for various treatments.
Setting up hubs for hospitals by providing 30 to 50 acres to each would avoid the need for AP people to go to far-away places for treatments.
The Chief Minister was speaking at a review meeting on the Covid situation, vaccination and oxygen supply across the state. He said such hubs should be set up at district headquarters and corporations. Lands should be given to the hospitals which are ready to invest at least Rs 100 crore in three years.
He said, “Through these health hubs, 80 multi-super speciality hospitals can come up in the state. Along with these hospitals, the government is setting up 16 teaching hospitals and nursing colleges, all of which boost the health sector both in the government and the private sectors. Tertiary care will improve in the state with multi-speciality and super speciality hospitals coming up in district headquarters and corporations and patients need not to go to other states for medical treatment.”
The Chief Minister said quality treatment is being provided to patients under the Aarogyasri. He said vaccines should be manufactured under the purview of the government and directed the officials to prepare a policy for it, too.
The officials said the positivity rate on May 17 was 25.56 per cent, and it dipped to 19.20 per cent on May 27. The rate was on the decline in the last 10-12 days. Active cases were 2.11 lakh on May 18 and 1.86 lakh on May 26, which shows decline in active cases. Recovery rate on May 7 was 84.3 per cent while it was 87.99 per cent on May 27, thus showing improvement in recovery rate. The data of the last seven weeks shows a decline in active cases in almost all the districts, they said.
