Doctor Ji: Andhra govt to soft launch 'Family Physician' programme on Oct 21

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh government is set to soft launch the 'Family Physician' programme on October 21.

The official launch will be in January 2023, by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Under this programme, the basic structure of primary health care has been revamped and a village health clinic for every 2000 population is envisaged to provide round-the-clock services at the village level. These clinics were named Dr. YSR Village health clinics.

"Each PHC will cater to the needs of 13 villages and six to seven villages will be mapped to each medical officer. Every doctor will be visiting villages mapped on alternative days and twice a month in mobile medical units (MMU), which are equipped with more than 50 types of equipment such as ECG machines and medical tests will also be available", said Principal Secretary (Health, Medical, and Family Welfare) MT Krishna Babu.

Services:

Services provided at village clinics include OPD, Antenatal, and postnatal services, Disease control programmes, NCD screening, FP services, Immunization, diagnostics (14 tests), dispensing of medicines (67 types), yoga and wellness activities. The CHO who is B.Sc. (Nursing) graduate will guide the pregnant women in the Village and refer the identified risky pregnant to the higher centers i.e., CHC / Area Hospital / District Hospital or Arogyasri network Hospitals where such facilities are available.

Village health clinics:

In addition to 6,313 Sub centers, the Government of AP has sanctioned 3719 additional Village health clinics taking the overall number to 10032. Each of these clinics will serve 2000 souls in rural areas. Every Village Health Clinic (for a 2000 population) will provide basic primary health care at Village in a newly constructed building with one ANM, one Community Health Officer-CHO), and Asha Workers.

All routine and additional immunizations for children and pregnant women are done at the village level at these Clinics. These village clinics are providing Medical officer and Specialist services through telemedicine and Tele Hubs at the district level.

Further to provide healthcare facilities at the door steps of the citizen, 42,752 ASHAs (Accredited Social Health Activists) are identified from the community who assess the family health needs and provide proper linkages between the community and healthcare institutions. 14 rapid diagnostic kits are made available at all Dr. YSR Village health clinics. A total of 67 categories of drugs were made available in all DR YSR Village Clinics

NCD survey:

To identify non-communicable diseases (NCD) at an early stage, the government has taken up a massive NCD survey in the State. The family-based survey is taken up and Ayushman Bharath Digital Health ID is being generated for all citizens of Andhra Pradesh. As of date, 3,25,02,850 members were screened and Andhra Pradesh stands first place in the country in the generation of Health IDs.

"This data on NCD in the village will be sent to the Family Physician to follow up while their visit so that the NCD patients do not develop further complications", said Krishna Babu.

Analysis of Dr.YSR Arogyasri's data will be done to identify disease burden, focus areas, and spatial distribution of diseases for specific interventions being taken up. After this analysis, strategies are being done to identify high-incidence locations of NCD diseases such as Cancer, Diabetes, Dialysis, and Blood Pressure. Accordingly, a strategy to handle these diseases will be formed by linking through Family Physician App.

Regular follow-up of NCD cases will be done through Family Doctor and follow-up details also will be analyzed. This follow-up of NCD by the family physician is bound to reduce the risk of Cardiovascular Diseases (CVA), Kidney Disease, Stroke, and dialysis.