At least 64 Primary Health Centres (PHCs) across the State have been upgraded as Health and Wellness Centres (HCWs) under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), popularly known as Ayushman Bharat. State officials say these centres have undergone minor repairs, painting and branding as HCWs along with strengthening of laboratory services and information technology support.
“We have 64 centres that are operational and another 69 are in the progressive phase,” said Dr. Vijay Kandewad, Joint Director, National Health Mission, Maharashtra. He said 479 PHCs have been selected from 19 districts for upgradation in the first phase. Thereafter, 1,000 sub centres (SCs) will be upgraded by the end of March. A few of the 64 upgraded centres are in Gadchiroli, Vasind, Nandurbar and Osmanabad.
In a rural setup, a SC is the first level health care facility followed by a PHC and then a rural hospital. Each PHC has around seven to eight SCs under its jurisdiction. While a PHC has an MBBS and an Ayurveda practitioner along with a staff of around 15 people including Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM), Multi-Purpose Worker (MPW), health assistant, lab technician etc, an SC only has two people — an ANM and a MPW. The State has 1,828 PHCs and 10,668 SCs. However, the quality of health care in these rural health set ups is in an apathetic state due to a shortage of doctors, staff and equipment.
Doctors under training
“We are in the process of strengthening the SCs by posting a Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery in each of them. We want these doctors to act as gatekeepers so that we can bring down unnecessary referrals,” said Dr. Kandewad.
Altogether 1,264 Ayurveda practitioners are currently undergoing a six-month course designed by Maharashtra University of Health Sciences.
They are being trained under 12 different categories which include pregnancy care and child birth, neonatal and infant care, family planning, contraception and other reproductive health issues, management of communicable diseases, basic oral health care, general out patient care for acute simple illnesses and minor ailments, screening and prevention of chronic diseases like tuberculosis, leprosy etc.
The first batch will complete their training by end of March and will be posted in the sub centres soon after.