Cancer is fast-becoming a bane. What initiatives do you must sort out this menace?

Cancer is considerably linked to threat elements. Primordial prevention to cut back threat elements is a mainstay. This is a tricky objective to realize, and the strategy is multi-pronged in nature. The cornerstone of this technique is Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC). The thought is to make the individuals conscious to observe a life-style which retains the chance elements on examine.

Apart from primordial prevention, early screening and detection is crucial – major prevention methods. There has been a proactive participation of the federal government, with the Hon’ble Minister and whole State equipment in creating consciousness on most cancers, with walkathons and cyclothons on key well being consciousness days like World Cancer Day, World No Tobacco Day and so forth. The occasions are coated in a lot of the main media circles which sends a robust message on early screening and therapy of cancers. This 12 months, the State additionally gathered 10,000 individuals within the Kanteerava Stadium on World Cancer Day.

Social media-based communication is an everyday exercise beneath the Information Education Communication part of the State.

Special occasions to create consciousness on want for discount in tobacco use are taken up frequently. On the regulatory entrance, the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act is an aide to SBCC.

Regular screening actions are undertaken by the Primary Health Centre groups and the groups at Health and Wellness Centre beneath the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases (NP-NCD) and Comprehensive Primary Healthcare – Universal Health Coverage (CPHC-UHC) programmes. Medical officers and frontline employees have been offered hands-on coaching for screening of oral, breast and cervical most cancers. The HPV vaccine, as and when rolled out, will likely be a welcome measure to cut back the incidence of cervical most cancers.

Under the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana-Chief Minister’s Arogya Karnataka (AB-PMJAY-CM’s ArK), the State supplies free therapy to all eligible sufferers affected by most cancers. Karnataka is without doubt one of the few States to have the scheme open for each Above and Below Poverty Line.

What plans do you must increase healthcare within the State?

The Dr Puneeth Rajkumar Hrudaya Jyothi Yojane has been launched not too long ago – this initiative is geared toward saving lives through the ‘Golden Hour’ in case of a coronary heart assault. Under the scheme 85 Taluk and District Hospitals will likely be modelled as Spoke Centres, super-speciality cardiac hospitals will likely be modelled as hub centres, free ECGs, early AI-aided prognosis, instant first-line therapy at spoke hospitals, and fast referral to hub hospitals through ALS (superior life assist) ambulance. Highly efficient and costly ‘Tenecteplase’ injection will likely be offered freed from value to STEMI-diagnosed sufferers at spoke hospitals. AED-automated exterior defibrillator units will likely be put in in public locations throughout the State.

The Gruha Arogya Scheme will quickly be launched within the State, by means of which healthcare companies will likely be simply out there at doorsteps.

Karnataka is planning to make single-use dialysis machines necessary for all well being centres throughout the State. This will scale back cross-infection amongst healthcare employees and sufferers. A single-use dialysis unit is handy, requires much less manpower and makes use of much less water.

Telemedicine was pushed to the forefront throughout Covid-19 and has been sustained as a modal service supply within the State since then. The community of TeleICU hubs and spokes has been expanded not too long ago and we plan to achieve out to all taluka hospitals. This would allow availability of vital care companies at taluka hospitals with the assistance of supporting hubs at medical faculties.

We plan to launch 105 Advanced Life Support (ALS) and 157 Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulances. This is a big step in direction of strengthening emergency ambulance service. The Department can be engaged on a revamped 108 Emergency Ambulance Services and 104 Arogya Sahayavani.

Free MRI and CT scan is obtainable in all district and taluka hospitals. We have carried out 1,58,969 CT scans and 53,659 MRIs in six months.

To scale back ready time in hospitals, leveraging on the present Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) community, a QR code-based fast-track OPD registration system has been rolled out throughout hospitals within the State. This is beneath the bigger ecosystem of interoperable healthcare knowledge system beneath Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. We are one of many early adopters of the mission within the nation.

The Department not too long ago co-hosted a roundtable with the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) to discover partnerships and funding alternatives to strengthen public well being programs beneath CSR. Our goal is to make Karnataka a mannequin state for healthcare that may be replicated by different States.

The Health Department has additionally signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with AstraZeneca to deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based lung most cancers screening know-how that can display screen a affected person for 29 lung ailments in a single chest x-ray. This AI-powered chest x-ray system will likely be out there in 21 district hospitals throughout Karnataka.

Are there any new initiatives to enhance household welfare measures of Karnataka?

The World Health Organization (WHO) has agreed to assist some districts with sub-dermal single rod implants. Self-care equipment set up is on in any respect services and at public locations with condoms, emergency contraceptive capsule and being pregnant take a look at kits. The State can be planning to determine Centres of Excellence in hospitals for household planning strategies.

Any scheme you want to spotlight?

The AB-PMJAY-CM’s ArK is a vital scheme. It is a driver of Universal Health Coverage (UHC). The scheme not solely reduces the out-of-pocket expenditure borne by individuals in Karnataka for availing therapy at public and empanelled personal hospitals, it additionally aids in bettering the general public well being system as a decentralised fund pool. With the twin strategy to UHC, within the coming years, the State will be capable of enhance entry to high quality healthcare for the individuals. Karnataka is elevating greater than two lakh pre-authorisation requests each month beneath the scheme, reflecting the quantum of care borne beneath the scheme.

Please elaborate in your initiatives for illness management and monitoring measures.

The Department has a devoted programme – Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) which has an IT-based platform, the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP). All public well being services and a few personal ones report any ailments detected by means of this portal and provides early alerts on rise in ailments. This portal is dealt with by the State Surveillance Unit, who additionally ship out common outbreak alerts, primarily based on the information.

Karnataka is without doubt one of the few States which has declared rabies as a notifiable illness. The State ensures a gradual provide of anti-rabies vaccine in all its well being centres.

Regular monitoring conferences on outbreaks are held from time-to-time.