The government has sanctioned ₹2.8 crore for the comprehensive development of the Child Development Centre (CDC) in Thiruvananthapuram, Minister for Health Veena George has said.
The funds have been sanctioned for the CDC’s building renovation, equipment, furniture, research, training, specialty clinics, academic activities, and clinical, training, research, and community extension services under disability preschool, adolescent care, women and youth welfare, and new specialty unit projects.
e-Health launch
The CDC will be made more efficient, the Minister said. An amount of ₹9.57 lakh has been earmarked for launching e-Health at the CDC. This will make it possible to get prior appointments for children and improve the functioning of CDC clinics. Funds have also been allocated to set up psychological tests required by CDC clinics and to start research projects.
Funds have been earmarked for continuing activities under Shraddha, launched to check childhood disability. Shraddha aims at reducing childhood disabilities through investigations during pregnancy such as anomaly scanning using modern ultrasonography machine in CDC’s genetic and metabolic unit. Deeptham clinic that helps teach children with anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, and other mental health issues too has been allocated funds.
Lifestyle diseases
Allocation has been made for second phase projects of CDC’s genetics unit, intended to identify rare diseases early. The CDC has been entrusted with a programme to identify and prevent lifestyle diseases among adolescents and higher secondary students. It will help detect hypertension and obesity among Class 11 students. The programme that kicked off in January is targeted at 1.75 lakh Class 11 students in 850 government schools.
The Minister said the functioning of units that investigate mental and physical growth and language development of children in the 1-19 age group who are referred from other hospitals will be expanded this financial year.
