By setting up specialised centres for paediatric emergency care, Tamil Nadu has significantly improved child survival rates in recent years. The State’s Paediatric Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine (PREM) initiative has strengthened paediatric emergency care in government secondary care institutions — district headquarters hospitals and taluk hospitals — through dedicated protocols and appropriate infrastructure.
PREM is one of the six pillars of the Tamil Nadu Accident and Emergency Care Initiative (TAEI).
There are 116 PREM centres across government tertiary and secondary care institutions — 41 Directorate of Medical Education and Research institutions (36 medical colleges and five allied institutions) and 75 Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Services institutions (district headquarters and taluk hospitals), said M. Vijayakumar, Deputy Director-Team Lead, TAEI Commissionerate, Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project.
Data shows a steady rise in survival rates among children treated at PREM centres — from 93.44% in 2021 to 96.26% in 2024. In the current year (up to August 2025), the survival rate is 94.34%. Admissions have also surged sharply, rising from 21,586 in 2021 to 80,907 this year.
