AP launches Rs 249 Cr healthcare boost

Metro India News | AMARAVATI

Andhra Pradesh significantly boosted its healthcare infrastructure on Saturday as Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu jointly inaugurated 22 health projects worth Rs.249 crore across the state. The initiatives include 10 critical care blocks and 12 Integrated Public Health (IPH) laboratories aimed at enhancing emergency and advanced medical care for poor and middle-class families.

Following a physical inspection of the new facilities at the Old Government General Hospital in Vijayawada, the leaders virtually launched the remaining projects from Dr B.R. Ambedkar Kala Vedika. The development adds 500 critical care beds to the state's capacity alongside advanced operation theatres and super-specialty services in cardiology, nephrology, and neurology.

Chief Minister Naidu highlighted the momentum under the "double-engine government" supported by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nadda. He announced the upcoming launch of the 'Sanjeevani' project, a potential game-changer in healthcare, and stated that the state will begin digitizing citizens' health records starting January 1. Additionally, Naidu requested national recognition for the proposed 'Quantum Bio Valley' in Amaravati,

which aims to house the country's first quantum computer. In response, Nadda assured full Central support, promising to dispatch a technical team to Amaravati to discuss the Quantum Bio Valley proposal. He added that the Centre would examine implementing the Sanjeevani programme nationwide while backing state initiatives focused on early disease detection, prevention, and affordable treatment.

Praising Naidu as a visionary leader, Nadda endorsed his philosophy of "the kitchen as the pharmacy and food as medicine."