Work on health infrastructure lagging: Delhi govt analysis

Out of the 124 outcome indicators of the government’s performance in the health sector, 46% were declared “off track” by finance minister Kailash Gahlot, while presenting Delhi’s outcome budget on Monday

New Delhi

Out of the 1,000 Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics promised by the government, only 518 were functional till December 31, 2022, according to the outcome budget. (PTI)

Out of the 124 outcome indicators of the government’s performance in the health sector, 46% were declared “off track” by finance minister Kailash Gahlot, while presenting Delhi’s outcome budget on Monday.

A major area where the health department lagged was the progress on health infrastructure promised in the previous budgets. Out of the 1,000 Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics promised by the government, only 518 were functional till December 31, 2022, according to the outcome budget.

Government data shows that in the nine-month period between April and December last year, 1.5 crore patients were treated in these clinics.

“On average, each AAMC handles 98 patient visits per day and together approximately 51,000 patients per day,” the outcome budget document read.

The newly sworn-in finance minister said that the key focus of the government over the last year was to build holistic health infrastructure especially for the underprivileged sections.

Meanwhile, the economic survey 2022-23, giving a status of health services till March 31 this year, said that the Delhi government was providing promotive and curative health care services through 38 multispecialty and super specialty hospitals, 167 allopathic dispensaries, 58 seed primary urban health centres, 517 mohalla clinics, 30 polyclinics, 49 ayurvedic dispensaries, 22 unani dispensaries, 108 homeopathic dispensaries and 50 school health clinics.

“The national capital has been at the forefront of health care development. Basic to tertiary health care services are being provided by the public and private sectors and voluntary organizations. Integrated management of health services has helped tide over the critical phase of the Covid-19 pandemic,” the survey, also released on Monday, said.

In his address, Gahlot also announced the successful roll-out of Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN) in the state. “Electronic Vaccine Intelligence digitises vaccine stocks and monitors the temperature of the cold chain and supports better vaccine logistics management at cold chain points by providing realtime information on vaccine stocks and flows, and storage temperatures across all cold chain points across states and UTs,” the economic survey document read. .

Health experts also vouched for the government’s focus on building the city’s health infrastructure.

Dr Aashish Chaudhry, managing director, Aakash Healthcare, said that the Capital’s healthcare infrastructure is always bursting at the seams and unable to cope with the huge number of people who depend on it from within the state and outside.

“Most of the government healthcare facilities in Delhi are in urgent need of upgradation. That is why the Budget for 2023-24 must focus on properly maintaining, upgrading and building healthcare infrastructure in the state. The year 2022-23 saw ₹1,900 crore being allocated for the upgradation of 15 hospitals. The new budget also needs to continue its focus on building medical infrastructure, such as the upgradation of hospitals and opening more mohalla clinics,” he said.

Dr Chaudhry said, “The government also needs to focus on creating training facilities where those wanting to work in the healthcare sector, which requires highly skilled individuals, could get the requisite training.”