KARIMNAGAR: Deputy CM and health minister T Rajaiah said the government would fill 300 doctor posts at the government hospitals by issuing a special recruitment notification soon.
He said district doctors are fully geared up to check swine flu and the medicines for the disease are available at all the hospital in all district headquarters in the state.
He gave an exclusive interview with Express in Karimnagar on Sunday before leaving for Ramagundam to stay overnight at Ramagundam Government Area Hospital as part of his special initiative ‘Overnight Sleeping Programme’.
Excerpts:
How many doctor posts are yet to be filled at the government hospitals?
There are 300 doctors posts vacant in the government hospitals. The government is planning to fill them by issuing a special notification soon. In addition to this, 630 para medical doctors would also be filled and National Health Rural Mission (NHRM) staff would be appointed through outsourcing agencies.
What are the government’s plans to develop hospitals. What are your initiatives as the health minister?
Around Rs.2,283 crore was allocated in the budget for the development of hospitals. Every district headquarters hospital will be developed like NIMS in Hyderabad. Our priority is maintaining clean environment at the hospitals. Arogya Sri scheme will be implemented at government hospitals as much as possible. My objective is to visit all the hospitals and conduct review meetings to know the problems from the grassroots level.
What are the measures taken to check swine flu?
About 70 swine flu cases were reported and all were cured in one year. Four deaths have been reported. A special cell was set up at Shamshabad Air Port to conduct thermoscan on suspected patients.