NEW DELHI: In its manifesto, the AAP will be focusing on expansion of its ongoing health schemes, including Mohalla clinics, polyclinics, and increase of beds in government hospitals.
A three-member panel comprising AAP leader Atishi, Delhi Dialogue and Development Commission vice-chairperson Jasmine Shah, and former IPS officer Ajoy Kumar will work on the party manifesto. The party is likely to come up with its manifesto after January 15.
“Work in the health sector is set… We have understood what needs to be done. Basic is to scale up what has been done in the last five years,” said an official. The focus this time will be on increasing number of beds in hospitals, completion of the construction work that has been started and improving the doctor-patient ratio.
"We were not able to do as much as promised in the first term. New hospitals take time, lots of permissions are required. The focus will be on increasing bed count and expanding timing of OPD in existing hospitals," the official noted. "Priority will be for those areas where no healthcare facility is available. Work is going on in 26 hospitals and among those, eight hospitals are ones where work has started from scratch," he added.
The AAP will be banking on the popularity of its healthcare facilities, especially mohalla clinics, in improving the primary healthcare scenario. So far, 450 such clinics have been opened. Along with opening new clinics, more facilities are to be added in these clinics.
"When we started off, we thought 80 per cent of primary health cases will be taken care of but we were proved wrong by the number of OPDS that came to us. Around 90 per cent of all cases can be tackled and therefore can we can address the issues more effectively by introducing vaccines, antenatal care, psychiatric evaluation and even health screening," the official stated.