BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government has decided to ensure regular and quality healthcare services for children residing in child care institutions (CCIs) across the state.
The departments of Women and Child Development (W&CD) and Health and Family Welfare (H&FW) have jointly laid out specific directives to be implemented through convergence at both the state and district levels.
As decided, all CCIs in the state will be mapped to the nearest health facilities such as district hospitals, CHCs, PHCs, urban primary health centres (UPHCs), or Ayushman Arogya Mandirs (AAMs). This mapping is aimed at ensuring easy and consistent access to healthcare services for all children in institutional care. CCI staff will coordinate with these mapped facilities to facilitate regular health check-ups for every child.
Health department sources said, each child will be issued an individual health card documenting immunisations, growth monitoring, medical check-ups, treatments, and referrals in order to track health outcomes effectively. These records will be updated during every health visit and reviewed periodically by government officials during institutional inspections, she said.
The Ayushman Arogya Mandirs will provide teleconsultation services through a hub and spoke model, connecting community health officers and medical officers with specialists at secondary and tertiary hospitals. CCIs will be encouraged to use this facility whenever necessary.
This apart, mobile health teams under Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK), which are currently engaged in screening school-aged children, will extend their services to CCIs and include these institutions in their visit schedules.
Keeping in mind the mental health needs of children in institutional care, CCIs will be linked with the district mental health programme (DMHP) teams for regular assessments and counselling support.
The state government has directed district collectors and CDMOs to facilitate convergence and coordination between the district child protection units and the district health administrations. A joint orientation session will be organised for CCI staff, DCPUs, and local health officials to train them on using health facilities, teleconsultation portals, and mental health support systems.
The government will review the initiative at the district level with compliance reports submitted to the state authorities.