W Midnapore to soon get 50-bed AYUSH hospital

Kolkata: A 50-bed integrated hospital dedicated to AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) medications will soon come up in West Midnapore where the best of facilities and infrastructure will be available.

After coming to power, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had laid emphasis on the building of infrastructure in AYUSH and asked health department officials to revamp health infrastructure in the state.

A separate department has been formed, headed by a minister to accelerate various AYUSH projects. It can also be mentioned here that Banerjee had inaugurated a similar hospital in Alipurduar few months ago.

The state government has decided to promote one of the oldest and traditional forms of treatment across Bengal as the AYUSH system of medication has a significant role in delivering healthcare to the masses, especially to the economically challenged ones as it is cost effective.

The unit that would come up on a few acres of land will be one of the finest AYUSH hospitals in the country. Both the Centre and the state government will bear the cost to set up the hospital.

Doctors from the state and outside with expertise in the field will be invited to serve patients.

In another major development, the state government has decided to open separate units of AYUSH in the subsidiary health care units in all the districts of the state. The CM has brought a sea of change in the overall health infrastructure in the state through various new initiatives.

AYUSH units have already been set up in various districts that include Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Birbhum, West Midnapore, Nadia, North 24-Parganas and South 24-Parganas.

According to a senior official of the Ayush department, adequate number of medical officers will be recruited in all the subsidiary health centres. Adequate arrangement of medicines will be made in all the units so that poor patients can avail them free of cost.

Many new posts of senior medical officers are being created to provide AYUSH services in the districts in a better way.

Dr Sumit Sur, President of National Ayurveda Students and Youth Association said: "We are thankful to both the Centre and the Bengal government for taking up such an initiative which will further boost Ayurvedic medication which is one of the oldest practices."