A picture of health

KOCHI:In an effort to boost the healthcare sector in the district,four new projects were presented to the people in the health sector on Sunday. From the Cochin Cancer Research Centre (CCRC) to the state-level inauguration of Stroke Management Clinic,these projects hold a lot of promise.

CCRC, the long-standing demand of many, gained momentum with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan laying the foundation stone for the new block on Sunday at Kalamassery. Health Minister K K Shailaja and Education Minister C Raveendranath were also present.At present, only an out-patient block functions here which was inaugurated in November 2016.

The land preparation works for the construction of the new building is going on. The project by INKEL was approved by Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board, following which the Rs 379 -crore project went on the floor. The proposed facility will have 400 beds, 80 of which will specifically be for chemotherapy and can accommodate up to 800 inpatients a day. All the advanced treatments available in the cancer care sector will be made available here.

" We want more hospitals at par with the Regional Cancer Care Centre, in the government sector. By 2020, we will finish the construction of the building. This could be a benchmark in cancer care sector," said the Chief Minister at the ceremony.

He also remembered Justice V R Krishna Iyer on the occasion. "His name that comes to my mind when I think of the hospital. Iyer, along with a group of people, were the ones to first demand a cancer care centre, similar to that of RCC, years ago."

CT-Scan machine

The absence of a CT Scan machine at the Ernakulam Medical College had invited severe criticisms in the past. However, the infrastructure development fund of John Fernandez MLA came to the rescue here, presenting the hospital with a 128- slice advanced CT scan machine of GE Healthcare.

Health Minister KK Shailaja inaugurated the new machine and presented it to the public on Sunday. Apart from the Rs 5 crore from the MLA's fund, a sum of Rs 31.6 lakhs was contributed by the Health and Education Department. The CT scan would be a huge support to the Cancer Centre outpatient facility and other specialities. Earlier, the hospital was using a machine owned by a private institution. Also, the availability of the service was not steady.

Fillip for Taluk hospital

The government plan to equip the district and taluk hospitals with advanced facilities, including scans, chemotherapies, radiation and dialysis, received a major fillip with a CT scan machine being installed at Aluva District Hospital. Health Minister K K Shylaja inaugurated the machine on Sunday.  This will be a major boost to the hospital which sees hundreds of patients on a daily basis. The government has made it clear that the current policy is to bring the services to the root levels and thus avoid crowding up of medical colleges and general hospitals. The dental unit and lab facility of Moothakunnam Community Health Centre was also inaugurated by the Health Minister.

Stroke treatment

The comprehensive project to treat stroke was launched here by K K Shylaja on Ernakulam General hospital premises.The state-level project was developed as treatment is not available to stroke patients in the state at affordable rates.The absence of stroke clinics in the government sector further fuels the problem. At present, the project is being implemented in five districts in the state. The project aims at implementing the treatment facility in all the districts by the end of this year. General Hospitals in Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta and Thiruvananthapuram, besides Palakkad and Kannur district hospitals, currently has stroke clinics.

The curious case of a missing stone!

In his inaugural speech, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said: “We hear of foundation stones going missing for projects. This won’t happen in CCRC’s case.”  Interestingly, a foundation stone had previously gone missing from the Kalamassery Medical College premises.