A government hospital continues to lead in preventive health checks

Chennai's top preventive health check-up centre offering comprehensive packages, early disease detection, and expert consultations for all.

It is one of Chennai’s most sought-after preventive health check-up centres. The ambience, along with the carefully crafted packages, has been drawing not only Chennai residents but also people from far-off places in the State.

This is the Advanced Master Health Checkup Centre at the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital (TNGMSSH), Omandurar Government Estate. The centre, which was launched in June 2018, is going strong.

How do preventive health checks benefit? Data from the centre have the answer. From 2018 to April 2025, the centre has covered 75,656 persons: 40,454 men and 35,202 women. Of them, 10,040 were newly diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, 7,816 with hypertension, 2,294 with coronary artery disease, 823 with chronic kidney disease, 72 with cancer of the breast and 26 with cancer of the cervix.

The centre offers four packages — Gold (includes complete haemogram, blood sugar fasting and postprandial, lipid profiles, liver function test, ECG, digital X-ray chest, USG abdomen and pap smear) costing ₹1,000; Diamond (includes tests offered in Gold along with echocardiogram, prostate specific antigen, thyroid profile and HbA1C) ₹2,000; Platinum (Diamond package along with digital mammogram, dexa scan, bone profile, vitamin D, calcium, phosphorus) ₹3,000; and Platinum Plus (Platinum package along with comprehensive eye check-up, treadmill test, and lung function test) ₹4,000.

R. Mani, director, TNGMSSH, says that every day, 50 to 55 persons walk into the centre for the master health check-up. “People from middle and upper income groups have been utilising the services provided by the centre. All services are available under a single roof. If they need specialist opinion, we immediately send them to the respective specialist for consultation,” he says. Preventive health checks come with its own advantages, especially early detection of diseases, he adds.

Priyanka Ravi, medical officer at the centre, makes an interesting observation. “A lot of women are coming forward for the preventive checks. If 50 persons walk in a day for the tests, at least 30 are women,” she adds. One of the most preferred packages is Platinum as it includes digital mammogram and dexa scan that is used to measure bone density. Those with a family history of cardiac diseases opt for Platinum Plus as it offers treadmill test, she says, adding: “Treadmill test alone will cost around ₹10,000 in the private sector.”

V. Anand Kumar, nodal officer, TNGMSSH, narrates his experience. In fact, over the years, he has seen the fear and hesitation about master health check-ups come down among the people. “People usually stay away from master health checks for the fear of being diagnosed with a condition and being prescribed lifelong medications. This is slowly changing, and to assure people that this is actually not the case, we have been keenly working on prescribing lifestyle modifications wherever possible and reducing medications if and when possible,” he says.