Shillong, Jan 21: Coinciding with the 50th Statehood Day of Meghalaya, a state-of-the-art Diagnostic Centre was on Friday inaugurated by Meghalaya Health and Family Welfare Minister James P. K Sangma at the Pasteur Hills here in Shillong.Operated by the Directorate of Health Services (MI), Government of Meghalaya on PPP mode with Suraksha Salvia Global LLP, the state-of-the-art Diagnostic Centre, which is first of its kind in the North East, envisages to provide affordable, comprehensive and efficient diagnostic services, utilizing the latest and most sophisticated technology, which in turn will ensure timely intervention and treatment to the people. Besides Pathology, the Diagnostic Centre will also provide services relating to Oncology, Neurology, Gastroenterology, Orthopaedics, Nephrology, Paediatrics, Gynaecology and Pulmonology.

Addressing the gathering, the Health Minister dedicated the State of the Art Diagnostic Centre to the people of Meghalaya and said that with multiple services being offered under one roof, people will no longer have to travel out of the State for diagnostic purposes.The efficiency and accuracy of the services promised by the Diagnostic Centre and its futuristic outlook, wherein technology is integrated into modern medicine, is reflective of the direction that health care is taking in the state of Meghalaya, he added.

Sangma further informed that in the first phase only the Pathology section has been commissioned and once Radiology and other modalities become functional, the state-of-the-art Diagnostic Centre will become the largest and most advanced Diagnostic Centre in the North East.

Principal Secretary in-charge Health and Family Welfare, Sampath Kumar, informed that the State Health Policy focuses on a three-dimensional positive health care model which stresses on curative and preventive care for overall health and the newly inaugurated Diagnostic Centre is an important initiative for the people and will immensely contribute to preventive health care.

He further stated that the Government has recently set up Village Health Councils which has helped in engaging communities more actively in seeking health care.

The launch of the Early Childhood Development Mission which focuses on taking care of the entire childhood period of a child in a convergence mode and other initiatives undertaken by the Government will go a long way in improving the healthcare system in the State, he said.