8 Special Newborn Care Units To Start In AP Government Hospitals
The aim was to provide enhanced care facilities for newborns by adding 80 new beds (warmers) to the healthcare infrastructure: Health minister Satya Kumar Yadav
VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh government would establish eight Special Newborn Care Units in government hospitals across the state.
Announcing this, health minister Satya Kumar Yadav said here on Tuesday that the aim was to provide enhanced care facilities for newborns by adding 80 new beds (warmers) to the healthcare infrastructure.
These newborn care units offer specialised services for infants up to 28 days, ensuring state-of-the-art medical attention from birth onward. This marks a significant step in improving neonatal health care and reducing infant mortality across Andhra Pradesh.
Each unit requires an investment of ₹60 lakh, with a total projected expenditure of ₹4.8 crore. Additionally, the monthly operational cost for all eight units is estimated at ₹ 1.07 crore, with ₹8.91 lakh allocated per unit.
He said that under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, the new SNCUs would become operational by November end in specified districts.
Yadav said, “The units will be functional by this month-end at the Amalapuram area hospital in Konaseema, Kuppam area hospital in Chittoor, Guntakal area hospital in Anantapur and Emiganur CHCs in Kurnool.”
The facilities at Nuzividu area hospital in Eluru, Kavali area hospital in Nellore, Kadiri area hospital in Satyasayi and Srikalahasti area hospital in Tirupati would start services within November.
The minister said, currently, 62 such units were functioning across teaching, district, area hospitals, and community health centres in the state; some 28 of these being government-run. These existing SNCUs, equipped with 10 to 23 warmers, provide critical neonatal care, including treatment for low-birth-weight babies, neonatal jaundice, hypothermia, respiratory distress syndrome, and sepsis.
