Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dinesh Gundu Rao, and others inaugurating the State-level convention of community health officers in Mysuru on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: M.A. SRIRAM

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah appealed to community health officers to collaborate with the government to maintain public health and prevent diseases.

He was speaking after inaugurating the State-level convention of community health officers organised by the Akhila Karnataka Community Health Contract Employees Welfare Association in Mysuru on Saturday.

Mr. Siddaramaiah underlined the critical role played by the community health officers in safeguarding public health and said that the government was committed to upholding their collective welfare and interest.

He told the attendees that protecting public health was a shared responsibility between the government, healthcare professionals, community health officers, etc. and it called for better coordination and collaboration among all concerned.

Mr. Siddaramaiah stressed the importance of early identification of contagious diseases and creating widespread public awareness to prevent their spread.

“The government and community health officials have a joint responsibility of reaching to remote corners of the State and take up intervention measures to prevent the outbreak of diseases,” he said.

Elaborating on the challenges faced by the majority of the population, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the poorer section of the society cannot afford healthcare in private hospitals. As a result, these individuals are highly dependent on government hospitals for treatment, and it is the responsibility of the government to cater to their needs.

The Chief Minister acknowledged that while healthcare needs have increased over the years due to changing food habits, it was crucial to focus on the prevention of diseases through education and awareness as prevention is always better than cure, he said.

Mr. Siddaramaiah also highlighted the importance of nutrition and maintaining a healthy lifestyle as proactive measures to prevent the onset of diseases. He called for more efforts to educate the public about healthy living practices to reduce the long-term burden on healthcare systems.

During the convention, community health officers raised several important demands, including job security through the regularization of services, higher pay, inter-district transfers, etc.  

Emphasising that the government was fully committed to supporting the community health officers, Mr. Siddaramaiah also said that he would consider their demands for higher wages and regularisation of services and steps would be taken to address their concerns.

Dinesh Gundu Rao, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, H.C. Mahadevappa, district in-charge Minister, MLA K. Harish Gowda, and others were present.