Kerala Finance Minister denies cuts to health sector funds amid political row
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The Hindu
2 hours ago
- The Hindu
Karnataka to launch 393 Asha Kirana vision centres to tackle preventable blindness
To tackle preventable blindness, Karnataka's Health Department has expanded and restructured the Asha Kirana programme under the National Programme for Control of Blindness and Visual Impairment. As part of the restructured initiative, 393 Asha Kirana vision centres will be launched in public health facilities across the State simultaneously on July 3. Announcing this on Tuesday (July 1, 2025), Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao told presspersons that the initiative is aimed at increasing awareness and access to eye health services, particularly targeting cataracts and uncorrected refractive errors— the two major causes of vision impairment in the country. Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar will inaugurate a vision centre in Bengaluru on July 3 and all the 393 centres will be launched simultaneously on the same day, he said. The programme was earlier carried out through doorstep screenings by Asha workers and field staff from the Health Department on a campaign mode. However, henceforth people can visit the vision centres in the public health facilities at their convenience and get screened for eye problems, the Minister added.
Time of India
10 hours ago
- Time of India
CM highlights healthcare reforms on Doctors Day
Jaipur: Addressing a National Doctors' Day programme organised by Jaipur Medical Association at SMS Medical College campus Tuesday, Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma criticised the former Congress govt's Chiranjeevi health insurance scheme as lacking adequate financial provisions. The previous govt included only 1,800 packages in this scheme, which left many diseases untreated, he said. Sharma said his govt rectified the flaws in the Chiranjeevi scheme and implemented the Chief Minister Ayushman Arogya (MAA) scheme. This scheme now offers treatment facilities ranging from allopathy to AYUSH methods and from common ailments to transplants and robotic surgeries, he said. Nearly 8,000 patients are receiving treatment daily under this scheme and a fund of Rs 3,500 crore has been established for it, he said. Sharma extended his best wishes to doctors and said they are considered next to gods. During the Covid-19 pandemic, doctors risked everything to treat patients, he said. Sharma stated that to expand healthcare facilities in the state, his govt recruited staff on over 24,000 positions and about 26,000 recruitments were in process. Academic sessions had commenced in five new medical colleges, with new medical colleges in Tonk and Jaisalmer also set to start this year, he said. He mentioned that the govt allocated Rs 700 crore for the RUHS hospital, developing it into the Rajasthan Institute of Medical Science (RIMS). Under the Chief Minister Ayushman Arogya Health Infrastructure Mission, construction work worth Rs 15,000 crore is underway, he said. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Doctor's Day 2025 , messages and quotes!
The Hindu
13 hours ago
- The Hindu
LDF govt. more concerned about PR campaigns than attending to Health sector: Shafi Parambil
Shafi Parambil, Congress MP, has alleged that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government is ignoring government medical college hospitals in the State because they are 'addicted to public relations campaigns'. He was opening a protest meeting outside the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, against the various problems affecting the healthcare sector in the State. Mr. Shafi alleged that the government was also helping the 'private hospital lobby' by neglecting medical college hospitals. He claimed that the rights of patients for medical care were being curtailed. Mr. Shafi demanded that the government cut down its expenditure on PR campaigns and use the funds for patients' welfare. Highlighting the recent social media post by C.S. Haris, Head of the Department of Urology at the Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, about the lack of availability of surgical devices and equipment, Mr. Shafi alleged that even a Left sympathiser like him could not hide his disappointment over the state of affairs at the facility. Meanwhile, members of the Kerala Government Medical College Teachers' Association (KGMCTA) organised a protest meeting on National Doctors' Day on Tuesday (July 1), raising various demands. Opening the protest, C.S. Aravind, KGMCTA State secretary, said that the doctors in government medical colleges were disappointed with the current situation and called for urgent reforms in the sector. The doctors raised demands such as the creation of more posts of medical teachers in view of the rising number of patients, a clear definition of their working hours, and a halt to the temporary transfers of doctors, citing inspections by the National Medical Commission and the Kerala University of Health Sciences.
