LUCKNOW, July 26 -- With Intensive Care Units (ICUs) operational in 40 district hospitals across the state, access to advanced medical treatment for critically ill patients at the local level has improved significantly, according to a press statement issued by the state government on Friday. Launched nearly 15 months ago, the initiative has enabled more than 2,100 patients to receive timely, life-saving care in their districts, bringing much-needed relief to families who would otherwise be forced to travel to Lucknow or Delhi, the statement added. Earlier, many district hospitals had the physical infrastructure for ICUs, but lacked the trained personnel to operate them effectively. This led to the frequent referral of critical patients to tertiary hospitals in metropolitan areas. To address this gap, the state government introduced a comprehensive training programme to build local ICU capabilities. Principal secretary, health and medical education, Parth Sarthi Sen Sharma stated that the training programme was designed to equip doctors, nurses, and paramedical staff of district hospitals with proficiency in using ventilators and other modern medical technologies. He affirmed that this vision is now bearing fruit. Now, fully operational ICUs are not only providing critical services in several hospitals in Lucknow, including Balrampur Hospital, Civil Hospital, Rani Laxmibai Hospital, Lokbandhu Hospital, and Ram Sagar Mishra Hospital, but also across numerous districts like Barabanki, Ayodhya, Sitapur, Unnao, Kanpur Nagar, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Ambedkar Nagar, Ballia, Azamgarh, Mau, Gorakhpur and Basti. In the western and Bundelkhand regions, district hospitals in Etawah, Banda, Chitrakoot, Agra, Mathura, Firozabad, Aligarh, Bulandshahr, Kannauj, Jhansi, Bareilly, Moradabad, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar, and Shamli have also established and operationalized ICU facilities. This expanded network ensures that intensive care services are now within reach for residents across a much broader geographic area, marking a significant leap forward in public health delivery in Uttar Pradesh....