DHNS

Mangalore, Jul 2:The Regional Advanced Paediatric Care Centre (RAPCC), set up at a cost of Rs 6 crore in the Government Wenlock hospital, will be officially handed over to the government on Monday.

The building, completely funded by the Infosys Foundation headed by Sudha N Murthy, will henceforth be managed by Government Wenlock hospital.

First of its kind in South India, the centre will be the main referral centre for neonatal and paediatric care in 10 districts in Karnataka and Kerala. It is expected to be catering to nearly 1.40 crore people. The centre has state-of-art facility for treating children.

The centre has neonatal intensive care, neonatal surgery, paediatric surgery, dialysis for renal failure, treatment for blood cancer, AIDS in children and several other clinical facilities.

According to district medical officer Prabhudeva, the RAPCC will focus not only on child mortality, but also several peripheral problems including nutrition and general health of children from low income groups. It will also have a child development centre with outreach programme, he added.

Paediatrician of KMC hospital Dr Shantaram Baliga, who conceptualised the project, said that the excellent record of Dakshina Kannada district in controlling child mortality, prenatal and infant mortality rates in the recent times, is responsible for the setting up of the centre in Mangalore.

The government had allotted Rs 3 crore for purchase of necessary instruments for the paeadiatric care centre.