TN CM launches Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam scheme
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The scheme will screen those above 45 years of age and others with infirmities through routine door-to-door check-ups and detect non-communicable diseases; it has been launched in Krishnagiri and 7 other districts
Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam, the DMK government’s programme to deliver essential healthcare at the doorstep of the people was launched by Chief Minister M.K.Stalin in Samanapalli village in Krishnagiri on Thursday.
The scheme will change the mode of preliminary healthcare delivery and will ring in an era where essential medical services are well within the access of the poor, by delivery at their own homes, said Mr. Stalin. He simultaneously declared the Scheme open for seven other districts in the State, in the presence of Health Minister Ma. Subramanian.
Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam will screen those above 45 years of age and others with infirmities through routine door-to-door check-ups and detect non-communicable diseases that are also seen to cause sudden mortalities and impact the quality of life. The scheme will hinge on women public health workers, women health volunteers(WHVs), physiotherapists and nurses, who will provide healthcare at the doorstep, the Chief Minister said.
Explaining the Scheme, purportedly a pioneer in the delivery of grassroots access to medicine and healthcare by a welfare state in the country, Mr. Stalin said Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam was also part of the 7-point vision of his government that envisioned an “enhanced quality of life for all.” “Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam will ring in an era of healthcare delivery, where people need not come to the hospitals but have access to medicine and screening at their doorstep,” he said.
Through the scheme, high blood pressure and diabetes, both of which go largely undetected in the villages will be screened and monthly medicines will be provided at the door-step. Similarly, physiotherapy will be given to those that are in need of care. The scheme will also include screening of kidney ailments and congenital defects in children and will be followed up through hospital treatment, Mr. Stalin said. In due course, dialysis will also be provided to those with kidney ailments through portable dialysis machines.
The scheme was simultaneously launched in Thanjavur, Tiruchi, Tirunelveli, Coimbatore, Chennai, Salem and Madurai with a cumulative allocation of ₹258 crore and a targeted coverage of 30 lakh families and 1 crore population.
About 1,264 women health workers, 50 physiotherapists and 50 nurses have been appointed to implement Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvan in the 7 districts, where it has been launched. By the end of the year, the government is hoping to extend the scheme to the entire state, after an induction of an estimated 25,000 additional health care workforce (healthcare volunteers and nurses).
As part of the programme, a 108 ambulance for exclusive emergency response in remote tribal terrains of Bettamugilalam and its surrounding villages in Thally was also pressed into service.
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