Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam Scheme

Subject – Government Schemes

Context – Doorstep healthcare delivery can mitigate the effects of disruption caused by pandemics

Concept –

In Tamil Nadu, ‘Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam’ scheme is a community based intervention to tackle and treat NCDs and to address the crucial issues of prevention and early detection.
It involves a tentative budget in excess of ₹250 crore.
It includes population-based screening for the 18plus population for 10 common conditions –hypertension, diabetes, oral, cervical and breast cancers, TB, leprosy, chronic kidney disease, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, mental health and the delivery of hypertension / diabetes drugs to patients aged 45plus besides to those with restricted or poor mobility.
The State, which has a high burden of NCDs, also acted on data that indicated very low community control rates for hypertension (7.3%) and diabetes (10.8%) among patients.