As an initiative to modernize and improve healthcare in the state, the government of Tripura has planned to launch 21 e-hospitals and 50-life support GPS-enabled ambulances.

The Tripura government has decided to launch 21 e-hospitals and 50 life-support ambulances with GPS tracking systems as part of its initiative to modernize healthcare services in the state, health minister Sudip Roy Burman said here today. An emergency response helpline number and a grievance redressal system will also be introduced in the state for the benefit of the people, he said. "The new (e-hospital) system will be able to manage electronic health records, online admissions, drug stock monitoring, supply chain management," he said.

There is a shortage of medical and para-medical professionals and the government has decided to hire super-specialist and specialist doctors in neurosurgery, nephrology and cardiology disciplines on contract, Roy Burman noted. The measures are likely to arrest the flow of patients to hospitals outside the state, he said. "Over 3,000 posts of doctors and paramedical staffs are currently lying vacant in the state. They would be filled up in a phased manner," he asserted.

The minister also said that a new order has been issued, asking government doctors to prescribe only generic drugs in hospitals and issue computerized prescriptions. "The government has decided to organize more health camps, especially in hilly and remote areas, and doctors have been asked to initiate pre-emptive action on diarrhea, dysentery, malaria and other endemic diseases." Eight persons, including two minors, died in a diarrhea outbreak in Dhalai district earlier this month. Roy Burman said his government is committed to offer a user-friendly, affordable health services to common people.