Chennai, Sep 24 (IANS): The highly successful healthcare at the doorstep scheme, 'Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam', will now be operating in all the urban centres of Tamil Nadu. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin will inaugurate the service at a hospital here on Friday.

The scheme was first launched in Krishnagiri district by Chief Minister Stalin on August 4, 2021 and has proved to be effective in the rural areas.

The scheme, which was intended to help the rural people with quality medical care at their doorsteps, turned out to be highly successful and within two months of its launch, it has already covered more than 15 lakh people in the rural areas.

The state government has decided to extend the services of the scheme to the people in the urban area and will be inaugurated at Chennai Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital by the Chief Minister on Friday.

The scheme will now be implemented in all urban centres across the state with the respective general hospitals as the nodal point. All people who approach the General hospitals will be covered under the scheme.

State Health Minister Ma Subramanian while speaking to IANS said, "The scheme which was inaugurated on August 4 this year by our Chief Minister has become a major success with quality healthcare being made available at the doorsteps of people. Those with mobility issues and with serious ailments are the beneficiaries and we plan to cover around 1 crore people by the end of the year."

When the scheme was launched on August 4, it was intended to cover all those people above 45 years of age and others with infirmities through routine door-to-door checkups and to detect noncommunicable diseases.

The Chief Minister has said that the scheme was part of the 7-point vision of his government that envisioned an enhanced quality of life for all. It was also intended to screen people with diabetes and high blood pressure which go largely undetected in villages.

With the scheme getting extended to the urban areas, several people who are not able to move out of their homes for treatment will receive quality healthcare at their doorsteps. The idea is to inform the concerned General Hospital on the health condition and medical care will arrive at the doorstep of that family.

The scheme also includes screening for kidney ailments and congenital diseases in children and after diagnosis further treatment would be conducted at hospitals.

In urban areas the health department is planning to extend it to conduct dialysis for those with kidney ailments and portable dialysis machines would be used for the same, according to a senior doctor with the state health department.