Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin to inaugurate 500 urban primary health centres

Chennai: Chief minister M K Stalin will inaugurate 500 urban primary health centres across the state on Tuesday, said mealth minister Ma Subramanian. He will first inaugurate a UPHC on Vijayaraghava Road in T Nagar and from there inaugurate the 499 other centres through video conferencing, he said.

Under this initiative, the Greater Chennai Corporation will establish 140 UPHCs, while the Coimbatore Corporation and Madurai Corporation will open 50 and 46 UPHCs respectively. Salem, Trichy, and Tiruppur will each have 25 UPHCs, in addition to 189 UPHCs in municipalities throughout the state, Subramanian said.

Each UPHC will have a doctor, nurse, medical assistant, and health inspector recruited through district health societies. The centres will operate in two shifts, from 8am to noon, and from 4pm to 8pm. The health minister, along with Mayor R Priya, Health Secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi, GCC Commissioner J Radhakrishnan, and senior staff, inspected UPHC on Vijayraghava Road on Sunday.

These UPHCs will provide at least a dozen health services, including antenatal and child care, geriatric care, and first aid for emergencies. Additionally, they will dispense medications for conditions such as diabetes and hypertension and conduct basic medical tests.