Private practioners to provide health services to poor

Chandigarh, Jun 30 (UNI) The Haryana Health Department has signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with 124 private health practioners under the 'Vikalp' scheme to provide their services to families living Below Poverty Line (BPL).

Stating this here today, Haryana Health Minister Kartar Devi said that more than 1.5 lakh beneficiaries had so far been registered under the scheme.

She said this ambitious scheme aimed at harnessing the available private infrastructure through partnership mechanism for the benefit of the under privileged.

''The objective is to improve the accessibility of quality primary health care services for the rural and urban poor and benefit the BPL families who were not able to access public health institutions due to high cost of treatment,'' she said.

As many as 76,500 patients had so far availed the benefit of the scheme.

Mrs Kartar Devi said that it was observed that despite big network of primary health care services, the rural and urban poor had limited resources at their disposal. They had to bear expenses for various unforeseen situations.

She said that under the scheme, well equipped private or NGO or trust-owned nursing homes and hospitals with qualified medical personnel had been invited to become partners of the state government in providing primary health care services to 1000 to 1500 economically and socially vulnerable families per private health provider.

She said private health practitioners would provide free outpatient care, including first aid, during accidents and injuries.

They would also provide free ante-natal, natal and post-natal care, free immunisation services to mother and child and all family welfare services prescribed by the Central government.

They would also provide services available under various National Health Programmes. The beneficiary would get medicines, vaccines and contraceptives free of cost, the Minister added.

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