BHUBANESWAR: Rural healthcare in Odisha is all set to get a facelift with the 15th Finance Commission recommending grants to the tune of Rs 2,454 crore to be utilised over five years from 2021-22 to 2026-27.
As recommended, the state government has decided that expenditure on healthcare will be over eight per cent of the budget by 2022. Primary health care spending will be two-third of the total health expenditure.
Sources said that overall development in terms of infrastructure, diagnosis and treatment from health sub-centre (HSC)-level to primary health centre (PHC) and community health centre (CHC) will be taken up with a focus on quality diagnostic services.
Under the local health grants, the HSCs and PHCs will be converted into health and wellness centres (HWCs) in rural areas. While public health units will be set up at block-level and HWCs in urban areas, all sub centres, PHCs and CHCs, which do not have buildings of their own will have well furnished infrastructure and required medical equipment.
The maximum Rs 675.77 crore will be spent on diagnostic infrastructure at primary healthcare facilities, Rs 665.53 crore for converting the existing existing PHCs and HSCs into HWCs, Rs 386.66 crore for infrastructure development of building-less HSCs, PHCs and CHCs and Rs 154.41 crore to set up block public health units for integrated service delivery and public health action in rural areas.
Similarly, Rs 473.62 crore will be spent to enable decentralised delivery of primary healthcare to smaller populations and the rest Rs 97.5 crore crore to equip primary healthcare facilities in urban areas with necessary diagnostic services.
At a recent review by Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra, it was decided to prepare an action plan for proper and timely implementation and monitoring of the grant. As mandated by the Finance Commission, the process has begun to constitute a State Level Committee (SLC) under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary and District Level Committee (DLC) under the Chairmanship District Collector.
Additional Chief Secretary of Health department PK Mohapatra said Rs 462 crore will be spent on various components during the 2021-22 fiscal. While Rs 125.33 crore has been earmarked for conversion of rural sub-centres and PHCs into wellness centres, a provision of Rs 89.19 crore has been made for urban wellness centres. The funds to be utilised for construction of health facilities in rural
areas will be routed through Panchayati Raj institutions, he added.
Although the Odisha government has launched a new scheme 'Nidan' for providing cost free diagnostic services in public health facilities since January 1, 2018, people continue to depend on private labs due to lack of facilities and quality services at many hospitals.
Odisha has 1,814 public health institutions/hospitals including seven medical colleges, 32 DHHs, 32 SDHs, 374 CHCs, 1233 PHCs, 70 urban PHCs and six urban CHCs besides 6,688 sub-centres.