THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will launch the first family health care centre (FHC) in the state, aimed at providing total family care, at Chemmaruthi in Varkala on August 17.
In the first phase, 35 primary health centres will be converted into family health care centres, Health Minister K K Shylaja said. The government is for converting 170 PHCs to family health care centres this year, she said. On August 19, 35 such centres will be inaugurated.
Hailing it a milestone in the health sector, Shylaja said the new centres will bring back the concept of primary health care by giving prominence to prevention. As part of converting the PHCs to FHCs, 961 posts of doctors, nurses and paramedics have been created, she added. Three doctors, four nurses, a lab technician and a pharmacist will be made available at each of the centres.
“Now, the government will appoint two doctors and the third one will be made available by the local bodies,” she said. The centres will function from 9 am to 6 pm.
The FHCs are reorganised in such a way that they are patient-friendly with modern registration and token systems, consultation rooms with ample privacy and comfortable waiting areas. Apart from maternal and childcare services, the FHCs will focus on prevention of infectious diseases and proper control of lifestyle diseases. The centres are being set up as part of the Ardram Mission, which aims at making government hospitals people friendly.
PHCs to be convertEd into FHCs
The 35 PHCs that are being converted into FHCs are Balaramapuram, Aruvikkara, Vamanapuram, Pallichal and Kadakampally (Thiruvananthapuram), Chathanoor (Kollam), Othera, Pandalam and Chenneerkara (Pathanamthitta), Kalavoor and Kandallur (Alappuzha), Manimala and Meenachil (Kottayam), Kanchiyar (Idukki), Kodanad and Kuttanpuzha (Ernakulam), Desamangalam, Poyya, Thekkumkara, Manaloor and Mundur (Thrissur), Sree Krishnapuram (Palakkad) Thirunavaya and Pandikkad (Malappuram), Ramanattukara, Kunnamangalam, Edachery and Omassery (Kozhikode), Poothadi, Appapara, Noolpuzha and Vengappalli (Wayanad), Cheruthazham (Kannur) and Mogral Puthoor and Mulleria (Kasargod).
The new centres will bring back the concept of primary health care by giving prominence to prevention. As part of converting the PHCs to FHCs, 961 posts of doctors, nurses and paramedics have been created. K K Shylaja, Health Minister