Over R500-crore boost to Capital's health sector

The Delhi government allocated R1801 crore, R558 crore more than last year's budget of R1,243, to upgrade the city's health infrastructure. HT reports.

The Delhi government allocated Rs 1801 crore, Rs 558 crore more than last year's budget of Rs 1,243, to upgrade the city's health infrastructure.

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The money will be used to build new hospitals, medical colleges, health centres and add more ambulances to the existing fleet.

Work on seven hospitals, including two maternity and child hospitals in the city, will begin this year. Of the total budget, R167 crore will be spent on building more hospitals in the Capital.

Areas that are thickly populated, with people belonging to economically weaker section who are forced to travel long distances for a decent government hospital, have specifically been kept in mind in the budget plan.

To cater to them, 13 new health centres will be added to the list of existing 30 government health centres across the city.

The second-phase construction of super-specialty hospitals will take place this year. Already within a year of their launch, south Delhi's Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) and east Delhi's Delhi State Cancer Institute (DSCI) are already treating nearly 1,000 people per day.

Nearly 10,000 people that it caters to almost daily, a 500-bedded ward block has been added to ease the rush at east Delhi's Guru Tegh Bahadur (GTB) Hospital.

The hospital not only gets people from east Delhi, but also from neighbouring states such as Uttar Pradesh. A specialised clinic for diabetic patients and a kidney transplant unit with dialysis facility is also planned at the hospital.

"From the budget point-of-view, we have enough to work. The money has been increased and the hospital and medical college project for Dwarka is important, as the area has seen tremendous increase in population over the years," said Dr AK Walia, Delhi health minister.