HYDERABAD: Finance and Health Minister T Harish Rao announced that the State government would soon introduce air ambulances to provide emergency services throughout the State. Helicopters would be pressed into services even to the remote corners of the State to provide healthcare to the needy people, he said and added that air ambulance service which was available only for the affluent would be extended to all the people in the state shortly.
Harish Rao unveiled the 10-year progress report of the Telangana Health department at a ceremony here on Monday. The minister also welcomed 310 pharmacists, who joined the medical health department on Monday.
A total of 310 pharmacists have been appointed to serve in various capacities, with 105 taking up roles under the director of public health, 135 under TVVP, and 70 under DME. Harish Rao underscored the indispensable role pharmacists play in ensuring the availability and proper administration of medicines to patients, thereby enhancing the quality of healthcare services.
Addressing a meeting later, Harish Rao said a remarkable 22,600 vacancies were filled in the medical and health department, with ongoing efforts to appoint an additional 7,291 posts. He said that the administration was all set to provide 30,000 jobs in the medical department in a decade.
Telangana has evolved into a national healthcare role model, achieving accomplishments that were previously unimaginable within just a decade, thanks to the unwavering leadership of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Harish Rao said.
He highlighted the remarkable progress in healthcare, moving from the 11th rank in the NITI Aayog health index in 2014 to an impressive third rank now. He added that they were trying to achieve top rank in NITI Aayog health index.
Harish Rao pointed out that there was a substantial increase in allocations to health sector this year in the Budget. The government allocated Rs 12,364 crore in the Budget and per capita medical treatment expenditure would be Rs 3,532. The State was the third-largest spender of per capita health expenditure in the country, he added.
He said that the plan was to provide 50,000 beds in the state. Key projects such as Warangal Health City and the expansion of NIMS were underway to further bolster healthcare services, the Health Minister said.
Harish Rao acknowledged Telangana’s leadership in organ transplants, particularly highlighting the accomplishment of 100 kidney transplant surgeries at NIMS within six months.
Plans were underway to establish an organ transplant centre at Gandhi Hospital, ensuring accessibility for patients across the nation, he said.