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At Govt Hospitals, Tests To Cost Less,CT Scan, MRI Facilites At Affordable RatesBy Shastri Sir, Section Health
The Delhi government is planning to equip its hos- pitals with advanced diagnos- tic facilities, for which people are currently forced to visit pri- vate laboratories and shell out exorbitant amounts of money.
Tests such as CT scans and MRI, meant for scanning seri- ous ailments, are presently available only in a handful of the Capital's government hos- pitals. According to the plan, the state health ministry will install CT scan machines in all of its 100-bedded and above hos- pitals and MRI machines in its 200-bedded and above hospi- tals in the city. With this, these tests, which otherwise cost anywhere between Rs 3000 and Rs 10,000, will be available at less than half the price. "It is ridiculous to see poor people running from one lab to another to get these expensive tests done. I want to ensure that no one visiting our hospitals has to leave the hospital premises and go out to conduct tests. This step is to ensure that. Also, most of them can't afford the amount private labs demand to conduct these tests," said Kiran Walia, state health minister. "In some of our hospitals, an ultrasound costs under Rs 100.For these tests, we can charge an amount of Rs 500, which is much less than what private centres levy," said a source in the health ministry, requesting anonymity. rhythma.kaul@hindustantimes.com Source: Hindustan Times By Rhythma Kaul At Govt Hospitals, Tests To Cost Less,CT Scan, MRI Facilites At Affordable Rates Click On "Full Story" For More...
Out of the 30-odd hospitals under the Delhi government, only five provide CT scan facil- ity and three provide MRI facil- ities at present. About 10 Delhi government hospitals are 100- bedded and nine of the gov- ernment hospitals have 200 or more beds.
But not all of these hospitals provide CT scan and MRI facil- ity at present. "We are working out the modalities to see how it can be done. There's a possibility we might work with private play- ers and hand over the respon- sibility of installation and main- tenance of the machines, as our hospitals are already overbur- dened," said Walia. The cost of the project will be decided soon. Also, the Delhi government, under its NGO scheme, plans to open breast cancer clinics in all its 100-bedded and above hospitals. "The way breast can- cer is rising, there's a strong need to create awareness among masses and conduct screening tests in case there's even the slightest of doubt," said Walia. The Delhi government has asked private players expected to bid for the project to offer these tests free of cost to below poverty line (BPL) people, at concessional rates to CGHS and other beneficiaries, and at sig- nificantly lower rates to others. Like any of its special clinics, the consultation fee at the breast cancer clinic will also be fixed at Rs 50 to make it afford- able to the poor. "If all goes as planned, by the end of this year, machines should be functional and by early next year, clinics opera- tional," said the source.
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