Schemes, tech and infrastructure to make quality healthcare accessible to all

Cancer is fast-becoming a bane. What initiatives do you have to tackle this menace?

Cancer is significantly linked to risk factors. Primordial prevention to reduce risk factors is a mainstay. This is a tough goal to achieve, and the approach is multi-pronged in nature. The cornerstone of this strategy is Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC). The idea is to make the people aware to follow a lifestyle which keeps the risk factors on check.

Apart from primordial prevention, early screening and detection is essential - primary prevention strategies. There has been a proactive participation of the government, with the Hon’ble Minister and entire State machinery in creating awareness on cancer, with walkathons and cyclothons on key health awareness days like World Cancer Day, World No Tobacco Day etc. The events are covered in most of the major media circles which sends a strong message on early screening and treatment of cancers. This year, the State also accumulated 10,000 people in the Kanteerava Stadium on World Cancer Day.

Social media-based communication is a regular activity under the Information Education Communication section of the State.

Special events to create awareness on need for reduction in tobacco use are taken up on a regular basis. On the regulatory front, the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act is an aide to SBCC.

Regular screening activities are undertaken by the Primary Health Centre teams and the teams at Health and Wellness Centre under the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases (NP-NCD) and Comprehensive Primary Healthcare - Universal Health Coverage (CPHC-UHC) programmes. Medical officers and frontline workers have been provided hands-on training for screening of oral, breast and cervical cancer. The HPV vaccine, as and when rolled out, will be a welcome measure to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer.

Under the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana-Chief Minister’s Arogya Karnataka (AB-PMJAY-CM’s ArK), the State provides free treatment to all eligible patients suffering from cancer. Karnataka is one of the few States to have the scheme open for both Above and Below Poverty Line.

What plans do you have to augment healthcare in the State?

The Dr Puneeth Rajkumar Hrudaya Jyothi Yojane has been launched recently - this initiative is aimed at saving lives during the ‘Golden Hour’ in case of a heart attack. Under the scheme 85 Taluk and District Hospitals will be modelled as Spoke Centres, super-speciality cardiac hospitals will be modelled as hub centres, free ECGs, early AI-aided diagnosis, immediate first-line treatment at spoke hospitals, and quick referral to hub hospitals via ALS (advanced life support) ambulance. Highly effective and expensive ‘Tenecteplase’ injection will be provided free of cost to STEMI-diagnosed patients at spoke hospitals. AED-automated external defibrillator devices will be installed in public places across the State.

The Gruha Arogya Scheme will soon be launched in the State, through which healthcare services will be easily available at doorsteps.

Karnataka is planning to make single-use dialysis machines mandatory for all health centres across the State. This will reduce cross-infection among healthcare workers and patients. A single-use dialysis unit is convenient, requires less manpower and uses less water.

Telemedicine was pushed to the forefront during Covid-19 and has been sustained as a modal service delivery in the State since then. The network of TeleICU hubs and spokes has been expanded recently and we plan to reach out to all taluka hospitals. This would enable availability of critical care services at taluka hospitals with the help of supporting hubs at medical colleges.

We plan to launch 105 Advanced Life Support (ALS) and 157 Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulances. This is a significant step towards strengthening emergency ambulance service. The Department is also working on a revamped 108 Emergency Ambulance Services and 104 Arogya Sahayavani.

Free MRI and CT scan is available in all district and taluka hospitals. We have conducted 1,58,969 CT scans and 53,659 MRIs in six months.

To reduce waiting time in hospitals, leveraging on the existing Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) network, a QR code-based fast-track OPD registration system has been rolled out across hospitals in the State. This is under the larger ecosystem of interoperable healthcare data system under Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. We are one of the early adopters of the mission in the country.

The Department recently co-hosted a roundtable with the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) to explore partnerships and funding opportunities to strengthen public health systems under CSR. Our aim is to make Karnataka a model state for healthcare that can be replicated by other States.

The Health Department has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with AstraZeneca to deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based lung cancer screening technology that will screen a patient for 29 lung diseases in one chest x-ray. This AI-powered chest x-ray system will be available in 21 district hospitals across Karnataka.

Are there any new initiatives to improve family welfare measures of Karnataka?

The World Health Organization (WHO) has agreed to support some districts with sub-dermal single rod implants. Self-care kit installation is on at all facilities and at public places with condoms, emergency contraceptive pill and pregnancy test kits. The State is also planning to establish Centres of Excellence in hospitals for family planning methods.

Any scheme you would like to highlight?

The AB-PMJAY-CM’s ArK is an important scheme. It is a driver of Universal Health Coverage (UHC). The scheme not only reduces the out-of-pocket expenditure borne by people in Karnataka for availing treatment at public and empanelled private hospitals, it also aids in improving the public health system as a decentralised fund pool. With the dual approach to UHC, in the coming years, the State will be able to improve access to quality healthcare for the people. Karnataka is raising more than two lakh pre-authorisation requests every month under the scheme, reflecting the quantum of care borne under the scheme.

Please elaborate on your initiatives for disease control and monitoring measures.

The Department has a dedicated programme - Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) which has an IT-based platform, the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP). All public health facilities and some private ones report any diseases detected through this portal and give early alerts on rise in diseases. This portal is handled by the State Surveillance Unit, who also send out regular outbreak alerts, based on the data.

Karnataka is one of the few States which has declared rabies as a notifiable disease. The State ensures a steady supply of anti-rabies vaccine in all its health centres.

Regular monitoring meetings on outbreaks are held from time-to-time.