Guwahati, Jan 22: In a landmark initiative to strengthen healthcare services in tea garden areas of the state, the National Health Mission (NHM), Assam, on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to upgrade 354 tea garden hospitals into Ayushman Arogya Mandirs.
The transformative step aims to provide quality healthcare to tea garden workers and their families.
Speaking at the event as chief guest, Assam health minister Ashok Singhal highlighted the government’s commitment to addressing the critical health challenges faced by tea garden workers.
The minister pointed out that issues like anaemia, malnutrition, high maternal and neonatal mortality, hypertension, and diabetes are prevalent in these areas.
Additionally, diseases such as tuberculosis, leprosy, and diarrhoea remain significant concerns due to inadequate healthcare infrastructure and poor hygiene and sanitation in tea estates.
The minister noted that the state government has already introduced several initiatives to improve health services in tea estates. These include mobile medical unit (MMU) services, the Wage Compensation Scheme for pregnant women, public-private partnership (PPP) agreements with tea estate hospitals, free medicine and patient transport services and the construction of new hospitals under Assam Tea Corporation Limited.
While these measures have laid a foundation, he emphasised the need to do more and announced the establishment of Ayushman Arogya Mandirs across 354 tea estates.
The Ayushman Arogya Mandirs will provide comprehensive healthcare services and promote healthy lifestyles. Each facility will have a dedicated community health officer trained to deliver services under 12 health packages.
The services at the centres will include maternal and neonatal care, child and adolescent health, family planning, management of infectious and non-communicable diseases, ENT, oral and mental healthcare, emergency medical services and elderly care.
The centres will also provide free medicine and diagnostic services. Infrastructure upgrades, including labour rooms and neonatal emergency treatment units, will be carried out to ensure better health outcomes.
The minister further shared that 4,947 health centres in the state have already been upgraded to Ayushman Arogya Mandirs.