Hans News Service Amaravati

AndhraPradesh is accelerating construction of dedicated buildings for Primary Health Centres (PHCs), Urban PHCs and Village Health Clinics to strengthen primary healthcare, health minister Y Satya Kumar Yadav told the Assembly on Thursday.

He said 1,143 of the state’s 1,231 PHCs are already functioning from their own buildings. Of 88 newly sanctioned buildings, 13 have been completed. Of 140 dilapidated PHCs identified for replacement, 118 have been rebuilt and 22 are under construction. Another 948 PHC infrastructure projects have been completed, while 100 more buildings are proposed with 15th Finance Commission funds.

Of 43 buildings being constructed through the Roads and Buildings Department, 14 are complete and 29 are under construction. Another 57 are at the tender stage.

The minister said more than 600 appointments had been made in PHCs over the past two years. Only 57 doctor posts remain vacant, and these would be filled soon.

Of the 560 Urban Primary Health Centres, 175 are functioning from government buildings. The government has sanctioned buildings for the remaining 385 centres. Of these, 327 have been completed and handed over, while 55 are under construction. Three cases are pending in court. With this, 502 UPHCs have dedicated buildings, while 55 continue to function from rented premises.

Satya Kumar said the previous government had built only 3,105 dedicated buildings for Village Health Clinics, Ayushman Arogya Mandirs and Health and Wellness Centres under schemes including the 15th Finance Commission, NHM and PM-ABHIM.

Since the coalition government took office, construction of more than 4,500 buildings has been taken up with Central support. The Panchayat Raj Department is executing the works. He said Community Health Officers would also be recruited wherever required.

The minister said the government had launched Sanjeevani Digital Health to provide patient-centric services. The platform will facilitate 41 types of tests at patients’ doorsteps, along with health profiling, follow-up care, appointments, medicines and digital health records.