Mysuru: In the midst of a surge in Covid case in neighboring Kerala, a request for the appointment of a permanent doctor for DB Kuppe Primary Health Center in HD Kote Taluk in MySuru District, which is located close to Karnataka – Kerala border post, getting louder.
Because no doctor in PHC, which is surrounded by tribal settlements, ensures medical services and increased drive vaccination in border villages is affected.
The request for the doctor’s appointment has fallen on deaf ears throughout the day.
The government was handed over to PHC to local NGOs in public private partnerships from the Arogya Bandhu scheme.
When doctors hesitate to work in distant rural areas and the government has introduced this scheme in 2011-12 to ensure medical services to the area by having an understanding with local NGOs and charity trust.
Twenty phcs in nine districts including those in DB Kuppe have been submitted to NGOs.
Apart from this service, diagnostics and dialysis have also been outsourced under PPP settings.
CT scan services in 14 district hospitals and MRI services in five are provided this way.
According to the scheme, the state government must pay the cost of running PHC, including building maintenance and staff salaries and also renew the agreement every year.
The provisions of the agreement ended three months ago, and the government had not paid local NGOs running PHC in DB Kuppe.
PHC ran without doctor and other staff for the past three months.
People who depend on PHC are now forced to travel to Anatharasanthe PhC, almost 25 km away by passing the Nagarhole forest area, Thirupathi, former DB President Kuppe GP to Ti.
Because Covid cases also increased in Kerala, people in the border area worried about the spread of the virus, he said.
The lack of staff at DB Kuppe also affects vaccination drives and other services.
People urged the district government to appoint a doctor to PHC immediately.
District Health Officers Dr.
Th Prasad told TII that the state government had appointed four staff including DB Kuppe PHC temporarily.
Because the government has sufficient staff, it can stop NGO services, he said.