Quality healthcare will reach every village, says Satya Kumar

Vijayawada: Minister for health, medical and family welfare Y Satya Kumar Yadav said the state government was rapidly strengthening health infrastructure to provide quality medical services closer to people in rural and tribal areas.

The minister, along with government whip and Gannavaram MLA Yarlagadda Venkata Rao, Gudivada MLA Venigandla Ramu, Pamarru MLA Varla Kumar Raja and Pedana MLA Kagitha Krishna Prasad, inaugurated a newly constructed village health clinic building at Janardhanapuram in Gudivada division of Krishna district on Tuesday.

On the occasion, 266 more health buildings were inaugurated virtually across 24 districts, taking the total number of buildings inaugurated simultaneously to 267. The buildings, spread across 87 Assembly constituencies, were constructed at a cost of around Rs 105 crore, he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Satya Kumar said the government aimed to complete the remaining 4,400 Ayushman Arogya Mandir buildings within the next six months. As part of the plan, 2,700 new buildings would be ready by the end of this year. Arrangements were being made to organise the next inauguration programme through Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, he said.

He said more than 4,400 village health clinic buildings, including those left incomplete by the previous government and newly sanctioned ones, were being completed with an allocation of Rs 1,128.02 crore under various schemes.

The minister said Ayushman Arogya Mandirs were being established at the rate of one for every 5,000 population. Each centre would provide 14 types of diagnostic tests, 105 types of medicines and 71 types of medical equipment. Services would focus on early detection of hypertension, diabetes, maternal and child health issues, eye and oral ailments, geriatric conditions and communicable diseases.

He said the government was also introducing the ‘Sanjeevani’ system to digitally maintain individual health records and provide each person with a unique health identification number. The system would store details of tests, medicines, doctors’ advice and hospital treatment. Around 2,500 coordinators would help connect people with telemedicine, medical consultations and hospital appointments, with the services targeted for launch from January 1.

Satya Kumar said 930 mobile health centres were being established to take medical services to remote villages. Each vehicle would have facilities for 41 types of tests and an auto-analyser worth around Rs 10 lakh. The vehicles would visit villages once every six months and provide several tests free of cost.

He said the government was focusing on prevention and early detection rather than treatment after diseases had advanced. He added that 1,644 village health clinics had so far secured National Quality Assurance Standards recognition, including 752 in 2024–25 and 892 in 2025–26. In Gudivada constituency, 41 Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, three block public health units and one primary health centre were being established, he said.

Health secretary Veera Pandian, commissioner of health and family welfare K V N Chakradhar Babu, Krishna district collector D K Balaji and several officials participated in the programme.

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The Hans India