Goa to scrap new born baby screening scheme

Money spent on the programme will be used to improve rural healthcare facilities

PTI | July 31, 2012



The earlier Congress-led Goa government's scheme to medically screen all new born babies in the state through a private agency will be scrapped by the present Manohar Parrikar government.

State Health Minister Laxmikant Parsekar told the state Legislative Assembly that Goa was spending Rs 8.33 crore on the scheme, which can instead be used to improve rural healthcare facilities like Primary Health Centres (PHCs) or Community Health Centres (CHCs).

The minister made this announcement on the floor of the House on Monday night responding to questions raised during passing of the demands for grants on health department.

The medical screening was done to detect metabolic disorders among the new born children.

Neo-Gen Lab, Bangalore was awarded the work to conduct the tests.

"Through these screenings we have found that one of 9,000 babies born at GMC has an amino acid disorder, one out of 11,500 babies has fatty acid disorder and one of 30,000-40,000 has an organic acid disorder," the minister told the Assembly.

"No doubt, we are the first state in the country to do this but I would rather spend the money on improving our PHCs and CHCs," Parsekar said.

Launched in 2008, the babies were being screened under the programme for nearly 50 inborn metabolic disorders.

 

Comments

 

Other News

Gandhian movement after Gandhi failed: Ram Guha

The Gandhian movement in India, after Gandhi’s death, failed, says Ramachandra Guha, and blames Vinoba Bhave for it. But the movement found new, fertile grounds around the world and succeeded in bringing about a change in South Africa, the US and elsewhere. It is high time it returned home. Of cour

When religion, politics and Bollywood come together

Tavleen Singh, noted journalist and political commentator, has turned to fiction, with her debut novel ‘The Actor’ (HaperCollins India). Set in the near future, it has a superstar, Amit Singh, turning to politics, when the political landscape is dominated by prime minister Guru Gaynendraj

Cabinet approves setting up of Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority

The union cabinet, chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday approved the setting up of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), called Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority (ITLA), to strengthen research, planning, appraisal, monitoring and impact assessment within the broad domains of Transp

Why foundational literacy and numeracy is key to school education

Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) are often described as the building blocks of education. Yet, their significance goes well beyond a child’s ability to read a sentence, write a response or solve a basic mathematical problem. These foundational skills shape how children understand the world,

When police data becomes the algorithm

For decades, policing has followed a familiar sequence: a crime occurs, the police respond, an investigation produces records and those records become part of the institutional memory of the criminal justice system. Artificial intelligence is beginning to alter that sequence. Instead of merely recording

Before India voted, the framers worried about the referee

“We are making a Constitution forever and not only for today.” Shibban Lal Saksena said this in the Constituent Assembly on June 15, 1949. He was warning that a ruling party might one day choose a loyalist to run India’s elections. Seventy-seven years later, the Supreme Court is wrestli

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter