Health Minister Y. Satya Kumar on Friday said that the State government is committed to strengthening healthcare infrastructure and improving medical services in remote tribal regions, to ensure that people in agency areas receive quality healthcare locally without the need to travel to cities. He further added that the government is paying special attention to anaemia, sickle cell anaemia, and cancer, which are prevalent in tribal areas. He shared that a dedicated research centre for sickle cell anaemia has been established at King George Hospital in Visakhapatnam with an investment of ₹6 crore.

He was addressing district administration officials and medical staff at the Government Degree College at Paderu in Alluri Sitharama Raju district during a review meeting on Friday.

Mr. Yadav shared that in recent years, healthcare services in the region had improved considerably, and the number of patients being referred to Visakhapatnam for advanced treatment has reduced to 250 cases per month from the earlier number of 600 cases per month. He said: “The government’s objective, , is to ensure that patients even in remote areas like Paderu receive advanced medical treatment locally without the need to travel to Visakhapatnam.”

Referring to the Paderu Government Medical College, the Minister shared that the institution has been established under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS). Besides Paderu and Machilipatnam, another medical college is set to be launched at Piduguralla this year.

The Minister praised the doctors serving in the remote tribal regions, stating that many of them work under immense pressure while staying away from their families. He also highlighted improvements in healthcare delivery and stated that major surgeries in government hospitals had increased substantially in the past two years.

He added that under the 15th Finance Commission and PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM), as many as 239 Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, 12 Block Public Health Units (BPHUs) and two new Primary Health Centres (PHCs) are being developed in ASR district.

District Collector T. Nishanthi said that the district administration is aiming to bring Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) down to zero. A special control room has been established, and Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANMs) track every pregnant woman, monitor nutrition, ensure four antenatal visits, and conduct regular scans. She shared that a pilot project for achieving zero neonatal mortality has been successfully implemented in the Chintapalli cluster and would now be expanded across the district.