CM flags off 40 vehicles for health monitoring across districts

Chennai: In a move aimed at strengthening healthcare monitoring and emergency response across Tamil Nadu, chief minister C Joseph Vijay flagged off 40 new vehicles for the directorate of medical and rural health services at the Secretariat on Wednesday.

The vehicles, procured at a cost of Rs 2.9 crore, will be deployed for inspection and enforcement activities in govt and private hospitals across districts. Officials said the vehicles would support the implementation and monitoring of various act, including the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994, the Tamil Nadu Clinical Establishments (Regulation) Act, 1997, the Surrogacy Act, the Assisted Reproductive Technology Act, and the Human Organ Transplantation Act.

The vehicles will aid teams in inspecting scan centres, verifying the registration and operational standards of medical institutions, monitoring treatment facilities provided to patients, and conducting swift investigations against fake doctors.

“The vehicles will also support field-level monitoring during disasters and epidemic outbreaks. Since officials have to travel extensively across districts for inspections and enforcement activities, these vehicles will be utilised for that purpose. Of the 40 vehicles, three will be used in Chennai and the remaining will be distributed across the 37 districts. The older vehicles provided in 2012 have gone off-road, and as officials required new vehicles, these have now been flagged off,” said Dr S Uma, additional secretary, health department.

The chief minister handed over the keys to drivers and formally inaugurated the vehicles at the event held at the Secretariat. Health minister Dr K G Arunraj, chief secretary Dr M Sai Kumar, health secretary Dr Darez Ahmed, additional secretary S Uma, director of medical and rural health services D K Chitra, and other senior officials participated in the event.