Gujarat Government has in a major initiative decided to expand medical services across the state with a view to improving the health of common man, as part of the state’s golden jubilee celebration, Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas said here.

The steps include setting up family-friendly hospitals, 100 new urban health centres and 200 urban sub-centres at nagarpalika level, connecting all medical colleges and district hospitals with community health centres through 50 telemedicine centres by 2015.

Another plan is to create a non-emergency helpline service at select places by 2010 and all over the state by 2013.

Other steps include increase the 108-emergency van service to 600 in two years, introducing 30 comprehensive mobile vans and ‘mamta’ palanquins for remote areas, reducing maternal and infant mortality rates,

The government has also decided to set up a government Ayurvedic college-cum-hospital at Kolavda near Gandhinagar at a cost of Rs.150-crore, a government homeopathic college near Sidhpur at a cost of Rs.100-crore, a centre for excellence at Maniben Ayurvedic Hospital in Ahmedabad at a cost of Rs.8-crore, improve the condition of 32 existing Ayurvedic hospitals at a cost of Rs.16-crore and add new building in ten Ayurvedic colleges and construct RMO quarters at a cost of Rs. 26.38-crore.

The government plans to include all the 24 district hospitals and mental hospitals under the NABH-NABL schemes by 2015, as also laboratories, blood banks and even primary health centres.