Now, medical-related info just a dial away

Now, medical-related info just a dial away

Jul 24, 2014, 06.05AM IST TNN Times of India Trichy



TRICHY: Medical helpline '104' was officially inaugurated in the district on Wednesday. The helpline will help people seek medical advice and bring grievances related to medical treatment to the notice of the higher officials.

At a brief function held at the district collectorate on Wednesday, collector Jayashree Muralidharan inaugurated the ?helpline for Trichy.

With the help of the helpline, people also can get details on various facilities and specialties available at government hospitals. Counselling will also be provided for people with psychological problems, including depression, anxiety, suicidal tendencies, sexual issues etc.

As part of the programme, 89 CUG (closed user group) mobile phones were distributed to medical officers at the primary health centres, chief medical officers at government hospitals, dean of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (MGMGH), the joint director of health services and the deputy director of health service. One of the phones will be handled by the district collector.

"The helpline will provide all health-related information and solutions. Grievances in the government health sectors can also be brought to the notice using the number," the collector said adding that if there is no response from the respective officers in the district, calls will be transferred to the collector who will take necessary action.

Once a call is made, the respective registration officer will collect the personal details of the caller after which he/she will be provided with a unique registration number. This will help the caller to identify himself, whenever he makes a call to the helpline. This will also help the medical officer to access the history of the caller. Initially, calls made from mobile phones to the helpline will be charged at the rate of Rs 50 paise per call. However, calls made from landline will be free. "In future, calls from mobile phones too would be made free," said the collector. As a demo call, Dr G Muthukumar, district project manager of Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project, made a call to the helpline from his mobile phone.

Dr M A Aleem, vice-principal of K A P Viswanatham government medical college, Dr Kanagaraj, dean (in-charge) of MGMGH, Dr K Chandra, JDHS, Dr I Ravindran, DDHS also took part in the function