Will Build Medical College for Providing Comprehensive Healthcare to Palnadu: Kasu Mahesh

Remained in inaccessible zone of the district, Palnadu region-people continues to suffer due to lack of proper healthcare infrastructure. The absence of expert medical professionals is taking several lives as people had to travel at least 150-200 km to get better medicare in bigger hospitals including Government General Hospital (GGH) in Guntur. People particularly from Gurazala and Macherla are feeling alienated from the system as basic services too are not being provided at the local primary healthcare centers. While the absenteeism among the staffers of PHCs in the region is very high, lack of specialists such gynecologist, orthopedician and cardiologists is prompting the available medical officers to rush the patients in critical conditions to GGH, Guntur.

Many in the tribal hamlets believe that it is better and easy to travel to Hyderabad than coming to Guntur. Surprisingly, dozens of cement industries and hundreds of limekiln units located in Gurazala and Macherla too could not get better healthcare infrastructure to the region. “Successive governments have completely neglected the region leaving the people struggle. This is the reason why our party supremo has agreed to set up a medical college and super-specialty hospital in Gurazala,” said Gurazala constituency YCP in-charge Kasu Mahesh Reddy.

Non-availability of potable water and high-usage of pesticides on chilli and cotton said to be resulting in people falling prey to kidney diseases. Many tribal hamlets in the region are depending on ground water with high fluoride content. TDP government had grossly neglected the region in spite of making huge revenues from the local industries, criticized Mahesh Reddy. He said that they have also planned a comprehensive drinking water scheme through which all the villages would be connected with safe water from Nagarjuna Sagar. Palnadu region thickly populated with Lambada tribals and the other weaker sections in remote areas which are away from basic health services. Government whip and former minister Dokka Manikyavaraprasad admitted that there is need to set up at least 100-beded hospital with specialist doctors in Palnadu region. – TOI