Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy lauds State’s public health system at Davos

The Chief Minister was speaking on day two of conferences organised by the World Economic Forum.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy interacting with World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab at Davos on May 22.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on May 23 said that precaution against diseases and timely treatment of potential illnesses were the cornerstones of his government’s successful public health system. Speaking on the second day of conferences organised by the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos, Switzerland, the Chief Minister said his government had kept these twin objectives in mind while designing and establishing clinics in every village with a population of 2,000, and two primary health centres where the population exceeded 13,000.

Participating in a WEF public session titled ‘Future-Proofing Health Systems’, Jagan Mohan Reddy spoke about the methods adopted by his government to strengthen the medical systems in the State, as well as steps taken to control the COVID-19 pandemic. He stressed that area hospitals, district hospitals, and teaching hospitals were fully geared to providing treatment for health problems beyond the zonal level. The Chief Minister also said that his government was setting up a medical college in every parliamentary constituency of the State with a teaching hospital affiliated to each of them.

Stating that his government was pursuing a public health system that kept in mind Andhra Pradesh’s future medical needs, Jagan Mohan Reddy said that before his party came to power there were just 11 medical colleges in the State, a number that would soon go up since his government had sanctioned 16 new medical colleges. “The presence of medical colleges as a unit in each constituency will strengthen the medical system and a budget of $2 billion has already been allocated for this”, he said.

On the State’s response to tackling COVID-19, the Chief Minister said that government-appointed field operatives physically surveyed 44 houses as a unit, with one volunteer working for every 50 houses. Such staff went from house to house and identified those who showed symptoms of COVID-19, he added.

Highlighting the Union government’s community health insurance scheme ‘Ayushman Bharat’ that treats over a thousand ailments, he said that his government’s scheme ‘YSR Aarogyasri’ was providing treatment for 2,446 different types of health problems, and aiding 1.44 crore households that earned an annual income of Rs.5 lakh or less. He said that over the last three years, 25 lakh people had been provided free medical care through the scheme.