MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday sought response from the state health department on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition alleging lack of trained doctors and radiologists to operate ultrasound scan machines in Primary Health Centres (PHC) in Madurai district.
The litigant A Veronica Mary of Madurai stated in her petition that there are 13 block-level PHCs and 56 additional PHCs in Madurai district. "These PHCs play a crucial role in maternal and infant health care including prenatal care, delivery and immunisation," she added.
However, ultrasound scan machines, which are essential for monitoring fetal development at every stage of pregnancy, are not present in most rural PHCs in Madurai, forcing women to travel long distances or depend on private hospitals for diagnosis, Mary alleged.
Though the state health department provided ultrasound machines in many block-level PHCs in Madurai and other southern districts by spending several crores, the said machines have not been put to proper use as there are no trained doctors and radiologists in the centre, she further claimed.
Particularly in Checkanurani PHC, which caters to the medical needs of over 50 villages in the region, the machine has been kept locked in a room due to the non-availability of staff to operate it, she alleged. She requested the court to direct authorities to ensure proper utilisation of the said machines across PHCs in the district.
A bench comprising justices J Nisha Banu and S Srimathy, which heard the plea, issued notice to the state health secretary, director of public health and district health officer and adjourned the case to next week for their response.