8 Special Newborn Care Units To Start In AP Government Hospitals

Announcing this, Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav said here on Tuesday that the aim is to provide improved care facilities for newborn babies by adding 80 new beds (heaters) in the healthcare infrastructure.

These neonatal care units provide specialized services for babies up to 28 days old, providing state-of-the-art medical care from birth. This marks an important step towards improving neonatal healthcare and reducing infant mortality in Andhra Pradesh.

Each unit requires an investment of ₹60 lakh and the total estimated expenditure is ₹4.8 crore. Additionally, the monthly operating cost of all eight units is estimated at ₹ 1.07 crore with ₹ 8.91 lakh allocated per unit.

He said that under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, the new SNCUs will be operational by the end of November in select districts.

“The units will be operational by the end of this month at Amalapuram district hospital in Konaseema, Kuppam district hospital in Chittoor, Guntakal district hospital in Anantapur and Emiganur CHCs in Kurnool,” Yadav said.

The facilities at Nuzividu district hospital in Eluru, Kavali district hospital in Nellore, Kadiri district hospital in Satyasayi and Srikalahasti district hospital in Tirupati will be operational in November.

The minister said 62 such units are currently operating in educational, district, district hospitals and community health centers in the state; About 28 of these are operated by the government. Equipped with 10 to 23 warmers, these existing SNCUs provide critical neonatal care, including treatment of low birth weight infants, neonatal jaundice, hypothermia, respiratory distress syndrome, and sepsis.