Out of the targeted 42 lakh children to be covered under Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) programme during the current financial year in Haryana, 16 lakh children have been screened in the State.
About 34 lakh children were screened in the financial year 2015-16, said Haryana Health Minister, Anil Vij on Wednesday. He said the effective implementation of RBSK in Haryana has widened the scope of better health services for children in the state and so far, during the current financial year, 128 children requiring tertiary level care have been given financial assistance of `1.17 crore.
The financial assistance was given for treatment in the approved Government institutes such as PGIMS
Rohtak, PGIMER Chandigarh, Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh and AIIMS, New Delhi, he said.
During the last financial year, 3.6 lakh children were confirmed with health conditions and 1.7 lakh children were confirmed from April to September 2016.
Out of the confirmed children, 3.3 lakh availed health care services at various government health facilities including DEICs in Haryana in financial year 2015-16 and 1.7 lakh availed services from April to September 2016, said the Minister.
Vij said that with a view to facilitate the treatment for congenital heart disease and to reduce the waiting time for surgeries, empanelment of private hospitals is under process.
The RBSK Program envisages to provide comprehensive health care to the children through early identification and timely early intervention for the prevalent health conditions thereby reducing the extent of morbidity and mortality among children.
He said this programme is a systematic approach for early identification and linkage to provide care, support and treatment to all the children from their birth to 18 years of age registered in Anganwadi Centres, Government and Government aided schools of Haryana.
Under this ambitious program children are screened for defects at birth like congenital birth defects, deficiencies such as severe anemia, Vitamin A and D deficiencies, diseases prevalent in children like dental caries, skin conditions and developmental delays in achieving the milestones of development further leading to disability. The program outlines the mechanism of facility and community based screening, said the Minister.
Screening of the newborns is done at the government health facilities. Community based screening is carried out by Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) for newborn whereas the children at the schools and Anganwadis are screened by the dedicated mobile health teams comprising male and female doctors of AYUSH, one pharmacist and one Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM).
The Health Minister said that children identified with health conditions are referred to the government health facilities and District Early Intervention Centres (DEIC) established at the level of Civil Hospital for further confirmation and management.
Vij said that for children with special needs, the NHM Haryana has joined hands with the Sarv Shiksha Ahiyaan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shilsha Abhiyyan (RMSA) to hold medical assessment camps.
In these camps need based assessment of these children is done for disability certification and for provision of aids and appliances. This is an annual activity and this year the camps are being organised from November 7 to 12 for districts of Ambala and Rohtak divisions and from November 21 to 29 for districts of Gurugram and Hisar divisions, he added.