Karnataka HC takes serious note of shortage of doctors and medical staff, initiates PIL on its own
Bengaluru, Nov 7: The High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday took a serious note of the shortage of doctors and medical staff in state-run hospitals and initiated public interest litigation (PIL) on this matter on its own.
As the proceedings began, Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Krishna S Dixit, presiding over the bench, referred to a news report on October 16 regarding the shortage of 16,500 medical staff, including doctors, technicians, and various other personnel.
Subsequently, the Registrar of the HC was directed to register a public interest petition based on the news report and place it before the Court.
Furthermore, the HC, pointing to the report, noted that there is a shortage of primary health centres in 454 rural areas. The report also said there is a shortage of 723 MBBS doctors, 7,492 nurses, 1,517 lab technicians, 1,517 pharmacists, 1,752 attendants, and 3,253 Group D workers, constituting various categories of medical staff.
To assist the court in this matter, advocate Shreedhar Prabhu has been appointed as amicus curiae.
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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.
