Amid pandemic, Karnataka recruits 4,000 medical officers
Bengaluru, Jun 28: Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Karnataka government has recruited 4,000 medical officers including 1,750 doctors, Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said on Monday.
The minister said compulsory services in rural areas for MBBS doctors has been implemented and 2,053 doctors have been appointed to various vacant positions in Health and Family Welfare and Medical Education Departments.
In a statement, he said 1,001 medicos have been appointed on contractual basis in 18 Government medical colleges and hospitals whereas 666 doctors have been appointed to work in ICU at Taluk hospitals who will be reporting to their respective workplaces by this month end.
He added that 348 doctors have been appointed under the National Health Mission, of which 90 doctors have been posted in Community Health Centres and three in Nephro-urology.
Sudhakar also said that the Karnataka Health Promotion Trust in collaboration with Association of Public Health Technologies has developed a pilot project for testing tuberculosis patients using Artificial Intelligence.
It will be undertaken in Ballari, Koppal, Chikkaballapura and Belagavi.
Speaking about mucormycosis (black fungus), he said 3,232 people have been affected by the fungal infection so far out of which 387 have recovered and 262 have died.
More than 1,600 have been operated.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
