Big public health upgrade in works; govt hospitals could soon get more firepower

India's public hospitals could soon have more firepower at their disposal if a big new healthcare plan, currently in the works, comes to fruition, ToI reported on January 2.

The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has drafted a National Essential Diagnostics List (NEDL) outlining the minimum tests that the government-run health facilities -- anywhere in the country -- must offer.

According to ToI's report (by Durgesh Nandan Jha), the list aims to guide facilities ranging from village health centers and Ayushman Arogya Mandirs (AAM) to district hospitals.


The draft suggests nine test types for village-level facilities, including diabetes, malaria, TB, HIV, and syphilis. AAMs should add Hepatitis B testing.

Primary health centers (PHCs) should offer tests for common illnesses like a) dengue, b) Japanese Encephalitis, and c) scrub typhus, along with d) X-ray and e) ECG services. District-level facilities, on the other and, should provide a) CT scans, b)( MRIs, c) mammograms, and d) echocardiography, as per the proposal in the works.

The draft NEDL has been put up for public comment.

According to an expert who spoke to ToI on the matter, the proposed guidelines are much needed, for timely diagnosis and treatment of illnesses.

"Currently, many health facilities being run in rural areas do not have even basic diagnostic facilities due to which people have to travel far to higher centres, where there is long waiting time, leading to the loss of crucial time in diagnosis and initiation of treatment. It can prove fatal in some cases," the expert told the newspaper.