56 TIFFA scan machines inaugurated at 44 government hospitals

Finance and Health Minister T. Harish Rao on Saturday virtually inaugurated 56 Targeted Imaging For Foetal Anomalies (TIFFA) scan machines at 44 government hospitals across the State from the Petlaburj Maternity Hospital here.

Of them, 20 machines have been installed at 19 Telangana Vaidya Vidhana Parishad (TVVP) facilities and 36 at 25 Director of Medical Education (DME) facilities.

Rao said that on June 2, 2017, at the same hospital, the KCR Kit scheme was launched. He said that when he visited the hospital for an inspection about two months back, he was informed by patients that there were no TIFFA scanning machines at the hospital and after that the government got to work and procured the 56 machines at a cost of ₹20 crore.

The Minister said that if a person had to get a TIFFA scan done at private centres, it cost about ₹2,500 to ₹3,000. The machines at the government facilities would benefit at least 20,000 pregnant women every month, he said . The government had trained radiologists and gynaecologists to operate the equipment, he said. Through this, every organ of the child, from head to toe is scanned and the position of the child, the area of the uterus and the status of amniotic fluid can be identified in the scan which takes about 20-30 minutes to complete, the Minister added.

There were 156 ultrasound scanning machines in government hospitals across the State. On an average, about 11,000 to 12,000 scans were being performed, Rao said.

The Minister interacted with a pregnant woman who was admitted at the hospital and inquired about the services being provided at the hospital. She said that due to non-availability of TIFFA machines, she had to go to a private centre for the procedure which cost her ₹3,000.

Before the formation of Telangana, there were only a few medical colleges and district hospitals which provided maternity services, but today there are 26 Maternal and Child Health (MCH) hospitals across the State. Another 200-bed MCH hospital was being constructed at NIMS Hyderabad at a cost of ₹55 crore, the Minister said. The government had implemented a three-pronged strategy for maternity care — antenatal check-ups during pregnancy, quality services being provided during delivery and lastly, post natal services for the mother, Rao added

The event was presided by Home Minister Mahmood Ali. Health Secretary S A M Rizvi, Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare Swetha Mohanty, DME Ramesh Reddy and other senior health officials were present. The Hindu