MK Stalin, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, is set to launch the ‘Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam,’ a ‘doorstep healthcare’ initiative aimed at reducing the need for patients to visit hospitals for non-communicable disease treatment. According to reports citing officials familiar with the matter at the state’s health department, the chief minister will inaugurate the ‘healthcare at doorstep’ scheme virtually, via video conferencing, in the Krishnagiri district.
Soon after its launch today, the Tamil Nadu doorstep healthcare scheme will be launched simultaneously in seven districts, including Chennai and Coimbatore. The ambitious scheme, according to a government order, aims to cover 1,172 health sub-centres, 189 primary health centres, and 50 community health centres across 50 universal health coverage blocks in the state at launch.
While speaking to reporters about the initiative, Tamil Nadu health minister Ma Subramanian said that the ‘Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam’ or doorstep healthcare scheme aims to not only provide needed medications to citizens, but also to bring medical services to their homes.
Following the launch of the doorstep healthcare scheme, chief minister MK Stalin will personally inspect the medical supplies that will be delivered to the homes of those diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes, according to news reports, with a special focus on those patients and senior citizens in the state who require physiotherapy.
On May 7, Stalin was sworn in as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, after his party, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), won the state assembly elections and ousted the erstwhile All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)-led government. Stalin had taken over his duties amid the raging second wave of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, and had instructed his team to prioritise containing the virus’s spread and improving the state’s health infrastructure.
