Karnataka government's state health policy final report will be approved shortly. The government will now monitor the activities and take action against the lawbreakers in the sector which includes issues like absence of registration, pollution control norms and rationalisation of drugs purchase and procurements.
In the next few months it is unlikely that there will be any major medical establishments in the state, except for setting up of 40 trauma centres in the taluk and district hospitals with all communication facilities. This apart there will be routine investigations for tuberculosis, malaria, leprosy for diagnosis and immediate treatment available at all the 1,800 primary health centres (PHCs) in the state.
"The state of healthcare industry in Karnataka is fairly good compared to several other states in the country," informed Dr. H Sudarshan, chairman, Karnataka Task Force on Health and Family Welfare. There is a remarkable upward swing in the sector going by the high patient inflow in several hospitals in the state. A wide network of healthcare institutions - primary, secondary and tertiary levels are already in existence.
The state has a total of 176 hospitals run by the state government. Out of this 8 are in the rural areas and remaining 168 in the urban areas. There are 13 central government run hospitals in Karnataka. Only one is in the rural area and the remaining 12 are in urban. In the private sector medical establishments, 14 hospitals are in the rural areas and 268 in the urban areas. The total number of beds in the private sector exceeds those from the state government medical units. "In fact the private sector plays a major role in primary healthcare despite vast network of government primary health care centres (PHCs), said Dr. Sudarshan.
Although it is clear that the private sector is dominating the medical activities of the state, there is no system of registration of private medical establishments like nursing homes and clinics. The Task Force has called for a method a registration of corporate hospitals and nursing homes and the implementation is underway.
According to members of the Task Force on Health and Family Welfare, there are several issues of concern in healthcare. The main hassle is corruption. There is an overall neglect of public health principles and management of the medical units. In addition there are distortions of primary health care, lack of focus on equity and a growing implementation gap to improve the sector.
The state government will shortly have a vigilance system in the directorate and health department to monitor and proactively counter the problem. There is an agenda to focus on comprehensive health information and surveillance, establish health monitoring system and have a comprehensive healthcare policy, pointed out Dr. H Sudarshan.
The state health policy final report is being presented to the Karnataka cabinet and it will take a month's time for announcement.
According to several heads of hospitals, there is a higher awareness on healthcare in Karnataka which has recently seen the setting up of four cardiac care centres in the private sector with a total investment cost of Rs. 715 crore. The city currently has the distinction of having nine dedicated heart hospitals - Wockhardt Hospital and Heart Institute, Manipal Heart Foundation, St. John's Hospital Cardiac Centre, St. Philomenas Cardiology Wing, Sri Satya Sai Hospital [Rs. 500 crore], Whitefield, Narayana Hrudayalaya [Rs. 200 crore], Mahaveer Jain Cardiology Centre Rs. 5 crore, Trinity Hospital Rs. 10 crore and Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology [JIC] [Rs. 100 crore].
No other city in India has so many cardiac medical centres like Bangalore, informed Dr. G Parameshwara, minister for medical education, government of Karnataka. The total investment of the nine cardiac hospitals is around Rs. 1,000 crore.