Goa: Cansaulim primary health centre’s OPD operating from verandah

VASCO: The Cansaulim primary health centre (PHC) that caters to eight villages is in very bad shape. The centre, which is operating out of make shift premises in Arossim, runs its OPD in the verandah. Right next to the OPD is the Covid swab collection centre, which is partly covered by a tarpaulin.
Locals from villages that come under the PHC complained about the dilapidated condition of the centre’s structure.
“This PHC caters to the villages of Cansaulim, Arossim, Cuelim, Velsao-Pale, Consua, Utorda, Majorda and Benaulim. The OPD patients are made to stand in outside in the rain,” said Lophino Xavier, an activist.
A local and president of the United Workmen Association, Olencio Simoes, said, “The staff told us that they are not even provided with PPE kits or any safety gear. They have purchased these at their own expenses. There is no proper system to dispose garbage either.”
The villagers have demanded that the newly built PHC at Cansaulim be inaugurated immediately.
When contacted, Cortalim MLA Alina Saldanha said, “The present PHC at Arossim is being operated from a house of a well wisher who readily agreed to help us. We made space for the OPD and swab centre in the verandah by putting a partition so that villagers are safe and can maintain social distance. The PHC is a temporary make shift one, as the construction for a 42-bedded full-fledged PHC had to start.”
The new PHC at Cansaulim is now getting its final touches and will be ready in two months, Saldanha said.