Tripura has immense potential to emerge as a health hub which can cater not only to patients from the state but also from neighbouring Bangladesh who come to India in large numbers for treatment, Health Minister Sudip Roy Burman said on February 23.

He said the state would be gradually equipped with full-fledged health facilities implemented via the public-private partnership (PPP) model. To begin with, the government is setting up a super speciality health centre, which is likely to be completed this year, he said.

This apart, all four hospitals in subdivisional towns of tribal dominated Dhalai district are being upgraded. Once complete, it would boost medical tourism, he said. "Tripura will also go a long way in alleviating the suffering of patients in neighbouring districts of Bangladesh who incur heavy expenses for treatment in bigger Indian states. Taking advantage of proximity, patients from the neighbouring country can come here for treatment. Tripura should be made a health hub," he said.

Roy Barman on February 23 launched a mega free pathological test programme in the state's 12 subdivisional hospitals. Inaugurating the programme at the Indira Gandhi Memorial (IGM) hospital here, Roy Burman said sixty different tests can be conducted by laboratories in the IGM as also six district hospitals by collecting blood samples twice a day.

Also, 53 different tests, including blood, stool and urine, can be tested in 12 subdivisional hospitals by collecting blood samples once a day. He said the reports would be delivered at the earliest, depending on the nature of the tests. He also appealed to the partner of the state government in launching and carrying out the service in a dedicated manner by sparing extra time and energy, indicating that the entire collection of samples and their testing will be monitored online.

Quoting a survey, he said that the people here are required to spend almost 40 per cent of their hard-earned money on medicine and treatment. "This cannot go on forever and our purpose is to reduce the expenses by providing foolproof healthcare locally," Roy Burman said.

The minister said that the state government has arranged free dialysis for kidney patients. "As of now, people are forced to go to other states for treatment of heart, kidney, neurological disorder, organ transplant, cancer and other ailments. We are trying our best to ensure that all these facilities are available locally and this will happen," he said