The Union government has disbursed funds to the tune of Rs.16 lakh to the Karnataka health and family welfare department to upgrade labs in the eight medical colleges to the status of referral labs. The labs will now help to speed up the reports for the detection of communicable diseases. The eight medical colleges are in the districts of Bangalore, Shimoga, Hassan, Mysore, Bellary, Bidar, Belgaum and Dharwad.


The initiative is part of a two-year project sponsored by the Union government to test diseases including dengue, chikungunya, typhoid, cholera, leptospirosis, diphtheria, viral hepatitis A and E, measles and other epidemics. Karnataka has been one of the states which has been selected to be part of the project and its health department has now disbursed the funds to the eight medical colleges, stated senior officials from the state health and family welfare department.


The medical colleges coming under the referral labs category are the Bangalore Medical College which is now authorized to carry out the test samples of patients coming in from Bangalore rural, Bangalore urban, Kolar, Ramanagaram, Chikkaballapur and Tumkur.


The Shimoga Institute of Medical Sciences will now conduct the tests for Chikmagalur, Shimoga and Davangere. Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences will carry out the tests for Hassan, Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada. Mysore Institute of Medical Sciences will carry out the tests for Mysore, Mandya and Chamarajanagar. Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences at Bellary will conduct the tests for Bellary, Koppal and Raichur. Bidar Institute of Medical Sciences will carry out the tests for Bidar and Gulbarga districts. Belgaum Institute of Medical Sciences will cater to the tests for Bijapur, Belgaum and Bagalkot. Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences at Hubli will handle the tests of Hubli, Dharwad, Uttar Kannada, Haveri and Gadag.


According to the government officials, the fund assistance from the Centre will give a fillip to the infrastructure of the labs. Each lab has received financial support to the tune of Rs.2 lakh. It will help the labs to expand the testing capabilities. Some of the tests are time consuming and expensive.


“These advanced tests were mandated going by the incidence of epidemics and communicable diseases in the state. There is need to provide the test reports at a faster pace for quick diagnosis and right treatment,” stated the government officials.


The state has faced difficult times during the H1N1 spread which required efficient diagnostics and now with the eight labs being spruced up for a broader range of services, there will be easier access for patients and doctors, they added.