Centre sanctions ₹200cr incentive for Telangana to strengthen M&C healthcare

Telangana has earned national recognition for its performance in maternal and child healthcare, with the central government sanctioning an additional Rs 200 crore as an incentive to further strengthen healthcare services across the state, health and family welfare commissioner Dr Sangeetha Satyanarayana announced on Monday.

She said the Centre had acknowledged Telangana as one of the best performing states in maternal and child health indicators and rewarded it with the additional funding to enhance services in government hospitals.

The money incentive will be utilised to strengthen maternal and neonatal healthcare infrastructure across the state. The government plans to expand newborn care units in selected hospitals, modernise labour rooms and operation theatres in line with national quality standards and establish midwifery-led care units, Kangaroo Mother Care wards and lactation management units.

Dr Satyanarayana said the state would also install advanced monitoring systems in high-delivery hospitals to continuously track the health of mothers and unborn babies during childbirth.

In addition, the funds will be used to upgrade government healthcare institutions to meet Indian public health standards and help hospitals obtain national quality assurance standards certification by improving infrastructure and strengthening medical services.

The commissioner said the additional funding would play a key role in further reducing maternal and neonatal mortality rates in Telangana while ensuring that quality maternal and child healthcare services are available in every government hospital. Deccan Chronicle