Karnataka health minister visits mohalla clinic in Delhi

Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundurao on Friday visited an 'Aam Aadmi Mohalla' clinic at Panchsheel Park here.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the governments of Delhi and Karnataka can learn from each other.

Gundurao was accompanied by Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj and Karnataka Bhavan medical officer Karthik, an official statement said.

The Karnataka minister saw the facilities at the clinic and enquired about the welfare of the staff, it said.

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The Delhi government's mohalla clinic is neighbourhood facility for providing free primary healthcare to residents. Mohalla clinics are one of the flagship initiatives of the Arvind Kejriwal government to boost the primary healthcare system in Delhi.

Rao praised the mohalla clinic model and said that it is functioning "very well".

"I had heard a lot about mohalla clinics and I wanted to see them. I wanted to discuss how they (AAP govt) are implementing health policies," he told reporters.

"In southern states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, health has always been a priority. Every state has got something good that we can learn from. We have something similar (to mohalla clinics)... we have namma clinics. We wanted to see how we can improve our system," he said.

Bharadwaj said Gundurao told him about how good the hospitals are in Karnataka.

"We will also visit their state. All states should learn from each other. I am very happy that they have come here," he said.

Kejriwal, in a tweet, said, "Karnataka health minister visits Delhi mohalla clinics. We welcome him and his team. We all have to learn from each other. Delhi will also learn from the good work done by Karnataka govt."

Currently, there are more than 500 mohalla clinics in the national capital that offer free primary healthcare services to patients, including 212 different types of medical tests.