SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Nov 15: The district administration has ordered installation of ultrasound machines at Sadar hospital and all 10 community health centres (CHCs) in Dhanbad so that poor patients do not suffer.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Sandip Singh has in this regard directed the civil surgeon (CS), Dr, Shyam Kishore Kant to provide a proposal for the installation of ultrasound machines at Sadar hospital and all CHCs in the district.
Ultrasound facility is available at only four state government and public sector unit hospitals In Dhanbad, including two at Sahid Nirmal Mahto Medical College Hospital (NMMCH), Central Hospital of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) and BP Neogi Hospital of DVC at Maithon.
Interestingly, three out of four of them have been non- functional for several months in absence of a qualified radiologist in the hospital. Only one of the ultrasound machines is operative at government-owned SNMMCH that runs on public-private partnership (PPP mode). As a result, poor patients in remote areas of the district have to go to a private clinic for diagnostic check-up.
A senior officer of the district health department said that 66 ultrasound clinics are registered in Dhanbad. Among them, 59 are functional and seven are closed in absence of a radiologist.
The DC took serious note at a meeting of the District Consultative Committee on Pre-Conception and Pre- Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act when Indian Medical Association (IMA) Dhanbad chapter secretary Dr Sushil Kumar pointed out that patients at CHC across the district have to suffer in lack of sonography facility. He proposed setting up ultrasound machines at rural area-based government health centres under a gynecologist.
Besides installing ultrasound machines at government-owned health centres, the DC also ordered to intensify inspection of private ultrasound clinics for checking of fetus killing. As of now, the sex ratio in Dhanbad is 918 girls on 1000 boys.
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