The state government has undertaken a program to provide automated cell counter machines in remote village and block hospitals in all districts.
These machines are supposed to give platelet count, PCV (packed cell volume), RBC (red blood corpuscles) count, WBC (white blood corpuscles) count, mean corpuscular volume (MCV) count, mean cell haemoglobin (MCH) count, T-cell count, differential cell count, haemoglobin count etc in a matter of three minutes.
It is expected to speed up diagnosis of diseases like dengue, for which patients had to previously run to district or city hospitals. It is also hoped that the step will widely facilitate the treatment of patients at the block level hospitals, which was not possible earlier.
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The state has already sanctioned funds for 97 such machines across villages in the state. Such machines will primarily enhance diagnosis and treatment of dengue, which has been posing serious threat in various parts of the state for some years now.
In the first phase, the machines will be installed in some primary health care centres and village hospitals of North 24 Parganas, Debra, Pingla and Sabong in West Midnapore and some other areas.
Till now, only a handful of tests like blood group test, blood sugar detection, blood test for malaria, venereal disease research laboratory (VDRL) test for pregnant women and HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) test were possible in the primary health care centres. The patients also had to wait for long before receiving test reports. The ACC machines will bring a significant relief in the process.
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