Shillong, Sep 29: Governor of Meghalaya Chandrashekhar H Vijayashankar has emphasised the importance of early detection of major health issues including cancer, tuberculosis, HIV and drug related illness.
Vijayashankar asked the health department to prepare a comprehensive checklist on cancer, TB, HIV/AIDS and drug related issues and ensure it is distributed to every household in the district to strengthen community level awareness and preventive care.
He appreciated the exemplary performance of the health department in the district and highlighted the department’s effort in providing free medical checkups, treatments and awareness initiatives as part of the ongoing initiative.
Speaking at the inaugural function of a specialist health camp under the Swasth Nari, Sashakt Parivar Abhiyaan at Ummulong Community Health Centre, West Jaintia Hills, the Governor said, Family well-being is dependent on women’s health, and together we must ensure that no woman or adolescent girl is left behind in accessing healthcare.”
Health Minister Wailadmiki Shylla thanked all stakeholders for their collaborative efforts and underlined the importance of spreading health awareness so that everyone, even in remote villages, benefits from such initiatives. He further highlighted that preventive health check-ups and timely awareness are critical to reducing the disease burden in the State and called upon communities, schools, and youth groups to be active participants in this campaign.
District MCH officer Dr. H. Uriah informed that under the campaign 710 health camps have been organised, serving 8,825 male and 17,175 female beneficiaries. The camps offered a comprehensive range of services, including maternal and child health check-ups, nutritional support and counselling, haemoglobin testing, and screening for hypertension, diabetes, and tuberculosis. Specialised screenings for cervical, breast, and oral cancers were conducted, alongside counselling sessions for adolescent girls on menstrual hygiene and mental health.
Facilities for Aadhaar enrolment, MHIS – ABHA card linkage and voluntary blood donation camps were also provided.
Meanwhile, a free health camp was also held at Allagre Community Health Centre (CHC), West Garo Hills under the campaign.
A range of healthcare services was provided, including general medicine, dental care, antenatal check-ups and immunisation, NCD screening with online registration, tuberculosis testing, laboratory and X-ray services, eye clinic, MHIS–PMJAY enrolment, family planning and emergency services. An awareness session for ASHA workers on NCD enrolment was conducted by Dr. Molly Ch. Momin.
