Free medical advice will soon be a phone call away

Free medical advice will soon be a phone call away

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, June 8, 2013: Dial 104 and you will get the medical advice. The trial run of the soon to be launched helpline, to be based in Hubli, is under way, said Health and Family Welfare Minister U.T. Khader.

 

Addressing reporters here on Friday after reviewing measures taken to tackle dengue in Dakshina Kannada, Mr. Khader said people could seek assistance in locating hospital that could provide the required treatment. The personnel manning the helpline will suggest medicines also. The helpline, Mr. Khader said, can also be contacted for lodging complaints about any deficiency in services provided at the government hospitals. Mr. Khader said trial run of the facility was done in the past two days. “Chief Minister (Siddaramaiah) will inaugurate it,” he said.

The helpline, an initiative of the BJP government, had been opposed by doctors in Mangalore on the ground that the facility would promote a practice of consuming medicine without a written prescription. The helpline will be managed by Health Management Research Institute. Doctors required to handle the queries have been recruited. The institute has been working on setting up the helpline for the last two months, Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) M. Madangopal told The Hindu .

Health Minister U.T. Khader has proposed setting up mobile squads to carry out tests in remote areas of Dakshina Kannada for dengue. The first such facility will start in Guttegar in Sullia taluk where cases of dengue have been reported since March. The death Jayaram Gowda, 55, in the village has been linked to dengue. The mobile squads will be formed in Puttur, Beltangady, Mangalore and Bantwal.

The Minister also promised to fill 200 vacant posts of medical officers and 110 posts of programme officers in the State. He said the penalty for MBBS graduates who do not report for rural service would be increased and government treatment facilities in Ullal updated.

 

Courtesy: The Hindu