Shut since April 16 order, primary health centres in Noida & Ghaziabad are set to reopen

NOIDA/GHAZIABAD: The UP government has directed that all primary health centres, the backbone of the rural healthcare system, be reopened. The government had on April 16 asked the district administrations to shut down PHCs and deploy the staff there for Covid duty.
The government order, issued earlier this week, comes after a spike in Covid cases in rural areas and amid calls to strengthen the healthcare system. Many villagers with Covid symptoms have died over the past few weeks in the absence of testing and proper treatment.
“We have started a survey of all primary health centres. While community health centres have been catering to residents, some PHCs have to be restored. We will forward to the government details about what resources are needed in these health facilities,” said Deepak Ohri, the chief medical officer of Noida.
In Ghaziabad, DM Ajay Shankar Pandey said a 15-day timeframe had been set to activate all the sub-centres in the villages. “At present, a joint audit of the health department, district administration and civic bodies is going on in three tehsils. There will be two beds with oxygen concentrators in each of the centres. Villagers will also get the facility of testing and vaccination here,” he added.
The government had specified in its order that the PHCs would be provided with antigen kits so that villagers could be tested there. “The idea is to strengthen the screening process at the village level,” said an official.
Noida and Greater Noida have five community health centres and 33 PHCs. While the CHCs are operational, only 20 PHCs are catering to the local population on a regular basis. The remaining are either in a dilapidated condition or had been opened during Arogya Melas (mass healthcare outreach programmes).
In Ghaziabad, while all four CHCs and 1 PHC are functional, only eight of additional 15 PHCs are open in rural areas. The rest are shut over issues related to infrastructure (electricity, water and construction) and staff shortage.