Karnataka government is now gearing up to implement the e-hospital software in all the hospitals of the state with a view to document and utilise the health information of every patient visiting government hospitals in the state. It will also introduce a System of grant based supply of medicines exists hitherto in all government hospitals of the state. Henceforth, supply of essential medicines will be made to all hospitals as per the requirements. These efforts would begin from April 1, 2015.

While the e-hospital will help improving the administration of health care to the patients, the grant based supply of medicines will ensure that all patients will get free medicine, said Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah  as he presented the state budget 2015-2016.

The government has also announced the setting up of the Intensive Care Units (ICUs) with ventilators in all district hospitals and a few taluk hospitals. This will ensure that the treatment will be provided for patients suffering from severe diseases.

Five laboratories will be established in the state at Bellary, Hubli, Bagalkot, Mysore and Mangaluru for detection of communicable diseases like H1N1, dengue, malaria, chikunguniya. 162) With a view to prevent female foeticide in the state, real time data will be documented through internet from all ultra-sound scanning centres, which will be monitored till delivery.

By installing digital software in the high frequency x-ray machines of the taluk and district hospitals, action will be taken to get the opinion and advice of experts by way of sending the x-ray reports to the higher level hospitals through tele-radiology.

Taluk and district level hospitals will be linked to medical colleges through tele-medicine. With this, opportunity will be provided to the doctors of taluk and district level hospitals in providing good treatment to the patients by getting advice of the expert doctors in the medical colleges.

The state is making concerted efforts to ensure that its Arogya Sahayavani (104) ‘Phone Doctor’ programme will be popularised.

On the dental care front, in an effort to provide good treatment facility to the patients by dentists in government hospitals, the state has taken the onus to set up dental laboratories in all districts .In order to promote holistic care, the state would establish Integrated Ayush Hospitals at Mangaluru and Gadag districts.

Announcing the achievements for the year 2014-15, the chief minister Siddaramaiah said that Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in the state has come down to 31 per 1000 live births. There has been an increase in institutional deliveries to 99 per cent. Percentage of children to whom vitamin-A syrup has been administered increased to 93 per cent. Mortality rate of children below 5 years is 37 per 1000 live births and thousand thus millennium development goal has been achieved.

“Our State has become the first in the country to ensure the Universal Health Coverage in providing tertiary health care with the introduction of Rajiv Arogya Bhagya for the APL families and the Jyothi Sanjeevini Scheme for the Government employees. A programme ‘Super Tuesdays’ has been introduced in all hospitals of the state, catering specially to the needs of the mentally ill persons through ‘Mano Chaithanya’ and ‘Manasa Dhara’ programmes on every Tuesday.  Programme for sickle cell anemia screening and treatment has been organized for the tribal population in the districts of Mysore, Chamarajanagar, Chickkamagaluru, Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada, he says.