Clean premises, well-lit corridors, two separate toilets for women with sanitary napkin vending machines and incinerators, and a children’s park.
What does it take to bring a Primary Health Centre (PHC) on par with some of the best government health facilities in a state? At Noolpuzha in Kerala’s Wayanad district, the answer is a panchayat ready to open its purse strings, a dedicated team of doctors — and Dr V P Dahar Mohammed in charge.
Bordering Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, Noolpuzha is the second largest tribal panchayat in Kerala. Two years ago, Dr Mohammed took over as medical officer of the PHC, which was established in 1973. Last year, this centre was among the first set of 35 PHCs that were converted to family health care centres by the state as part of its mission to make such facilities more patient-friendly. Just two weeks ago, it received a certificate from the Union Health Ministry for scoring 98 per cent in the national quality certification of PHCs, among the highest in this category.
Read this encouraging report in a story by Shaju Philip published in The Indian Express....
