10 million availed 'Aam Aadmi Clinic' services: Punjab health minister

More than one crore people have availed treatment at 'aam aadmi clinics' in Punjab, State Health Minister Balbir Singh said on Tuesday.

There are 664 'aam aadmi clinics' --? 236 in urban areas and 428 in rural areas -- ?in the state. These provide free of cost treatment, offering 80 types of free medicines and 38 types of free diagnostics tests.

"Over one crore people in the state have availed free treatment from these 'aam aadmi clinics' in the last one and half years," Singh said in a statement.

At a virtual meeting with civil surgeons, deputy medical superintendents and senior medical officers to review ongoing projects, he also noted that all the clinics are IT-enabled with end-to-end digitisation of registration, doctor consultation, investigations and prescriptions.

The state government has already rolled out the 'Farishtey' scheme under which free treatment is being provided to all road accident victims, irrespective of their nationality, caste or socio-economic status, he said.

Anyone taking a road accident victim to a hospital for treatment will be honoured and rewarded with Rs 2,000, Singh said, adding that police or hospital authorities will not question the person who brings a road accident victim to a hospital, until and unless the person wants to become an eyewitness.

Singh, while taking stock of supply of medicines at government health facilities, asked the civil surgeons and senior medical officers (SMOs) to ensure that no patient has to purchase medicines from the market.

"All the government health facilities have sufficient stock of free medicines. Civil surgeons and SMOs have also been allocated funds to purchase medicines in case they are short of any particular medicines," he said.

Singh said to provide X-Ray and ultrasound facilities to patients at government health facilities, the state government has empanelled private diagnostic centres.