Bihar districts to soon have drug resistant TB units

Patna, July 10: Thrusting the need to push in new health centers in the country, the Health Ministry has decided that 534 health sub-centers across 38 districts in Bihar would be upgraded as health and wellness centers (HWCs) during 2018-19.

Holding a review meeting, Union Health Minister J P Nadda said that there was a high-level discussion on various initiatives and schemes of the Health Ministry with CM Bihar Nitish Kumar. 534 facilities approved to be upgraded as H&WCs across 38 districts during 2018-19 has been granted, which shall be operationalized by March 2019.

Bihar has kept a target of total 43 facilities to be operationalized as HWCs by August 15 under the Extended Gram Swaraj Abhiyan, Nadda said. Around 1.5 lakh sub-centers across the country are being converted into health and wellness centers to provide comprehensive primary healthcare facilities to the citizens.

The expansion of primary care through the 1.5 lakh HWCs, which is another pillar of Ayushman Bharat, will provide screening for tuberculosis and leprosy, along with diabetes, hypertension, breast, oral and cervical cancers, among others, Nadda earlier said.

On the review of tuberculosis, Nadda said that Bihar is committed to testing 64,000 people to ensure universal drug susceptibility testing so that appropriate treatment can be initiated for drug-resistant TB patients.

“Government will set up Drug-Resistant TB centers in all districts hospitals of Bihar. It will increase access of advanced treatment to Drug-Resistant TB patients within a district. In pursuance to the vision, the Govt. will make TB Free Bihar as people’s movement (sic),” he said in another tweet.

He further said that it has been decided to accelerate the efforts of the central and state governments to implement various initiatives so as to eliminate Kala-Azar in the state by December 2018.