National Urban Health Mission in Mangalore, Ullal from Jan 20
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Jan 17: Mangalore city corporation and Ullal town are among the five urban bodies of Karnataka selected for launch of the Congress-led UPA regime’s flagship programme, National Urban Health Mission (NUHM), from January 20.
The other three urban bodies are the City Corporation Councils of Bangalore and Mysore and the Bagalkote town.
Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad will be launching the programme at the Freedom Park in Bangalore on Monday, Karnataka’s Health and Family Welfare Minister U T Khadar announced on Friday.
The objective of the scheme is to provide an adequate and efficient urban public health delivery system to effectively cater to the unmet needs of the urban poor.
Addressing presspersons in Bangalore on Friday, Khadar said the Centre and the State would share Rs 53 crore and Rs 20 crore respectively.
All the district headquarters would be brought under the NUHM and subsequently all towns with more than 50,000 persons by 2014-15, he said.
According to 2011 Census, 2.36 crore people are living in urban areas of the State.
The percentage of people living in urban areas in Bangalore is 90.94, Dakshina Kannada - 47.67 per cent and Mysore - 41.50 per cent.
About 30 per cent of the country’s population lives in urban areas. Seventeen per cent of the urban population lives in slums.
''It is estimated that the NUHM will cover a population of more than 22 crore persons, of whom an estimated 7.75 crore are poor and vulnerable,” Khadar said.
Under the NUHM, 45 health kiosks would be opened and it would be manned by auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM).
A total 35 kiosks have been sanctioned to Bangalore, five each for Mysore and Mangalore and four for Ullal town.
Kiosks would be functioning during the office working hours.
About 80 per cent of kiosks would be located in urban slums and 20 per cent in general public places, the minister said.
Mobile clinics would visit all kiosks once a week. The unit would be manned by a male and a female doctor, he said.
Under the scheme, the number of urban primary health centers to be upgraded are 98.
In addition, construction of new PHCs approved – 18, urban community health centres approved for Ullal town – One (30 beds), hi-tech labs approved for referral hospitals in Bangalore – 6, urban health mobile units approved for Bangalore – 8, Khadar added.