‘Happy drop’ for just-delivered mothers

Minister for health Aravind Limbavali on Wednesday said that the state was set to launch ‘Happy Drop’ scheme wherein the government would take overall care of pregnant women and transport them home from hospital after delivery.

“The 108 ambulances that are due for replacement won’t be disposed of, but will be used for ferrying and dropping services for pregnant women, as they are fitted with all basic medical equipment,” he told reporters.

The project, based on the “Gujarat model” will be launched by the end of February at over 1,000 hospitals in the State, he added.

He said he had met British Parliamentary under secretary of state Anna Soubry and British High Commissioner Ian Felton to discuss mutual cooperation between the state and England. He said he had discussed with them the UK’s requirement of nurses from India. He said he had told the British officials that Karnataka would draw lessons from the UK experience of making available generic medicines. “At least we can make the affordable generic drugs available to poor people,” he observed.