Arogya Kits Issued to Gram Panchayats in Dakshina Kannada District to Test Non-Communicable & Other Diseases

The Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, in association with the Health and Family Welfare and the Women and Child Development Departments, started issuing ‘Arogya’ kits to each of the 223 gram panchayats from Wednesday in order to take healthcare services to the doorsteps of people in rural areas in Dakshina Kannada. The kits comprising digital BP apparatus, glucometer, and other treatment aids are being issued to the gram panchayats under the State government’s Grama Panchayat Arogya Amurta Abhiyaana (GPAAA). Dakshina Kannada is among the 14 districts in the State where the GPAAA is being implemented.

The Panchayat Development Officer, members of the panchayat health task force, and other health staff have to make use of these kits for testing people for hypertension, diabetes, tuberculosis, and other non-communicable diseases and refer the patients to the nearby government health facilities. Each person aged 30 and above has to be checked for blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, and tuberculosis. Those found positive for the non-communicable diseases should be referred to the nearest government health facility.