As the UT of J&K faces shortage of doctors in remote areas, the Health Minister in Omar Abdhullah government Sakina Itoo today admitted this shortcoming and at the same time termed this as 'a legacy issue' , not a recent failure, which can be fixed overnight.
Speaking to media on the sidelines of a function Sakina Itoo said the shortage of doctors is something that has been inherited. “You can’t expect things to be fixed in one year when for six years there were no doctors, no medical staff and no proper infrastructure. These problems take time to resolve,” she said.
She said under the leadership of Omar Abdullah, the current administration has taken steps to address the crisis, particularly by strengthening human resources in the health sector. “We issued 309 appointment orders to degree-holders to serve in remote and under served areas. Recently, another 111 appointments were made to further bridge the gap in healthcare delivery”.
On specialist recruitment, the minister highlighted that consultant-level appointments through the Services Selection Board (SSB) have also progressed and efforts are underway to deploy them effectively.She admitted that despite upgrades in infrastructure, new post creations and essential facilities like equipment, medical assistants, and support staff have lagged. “Buildings were constructed quickly, but they lack basic medical equipment and manpower. We need to consolidate these efforts now.”
She appealed to all stakeholders to work together for systemic improvement. “We need support from everyone – the media, the public and all departments, to strengthen healthcare delivery. The administration remains committed to bringing lasting change,” she said, adding on an optimistic note that the government is well aware of problems being faced by people in far flung areas who suffer because of non availability of specialists invariably, which is being addressed with desired measures as early a as possible.
Meanwhile, a Community Health Centre (CHC) was damaged in a fire incident that broke out late last in the Dangiwacha area of Baramulla district, officials said.Block medical officer Dangiwacha, said the incident occurred last night, damaging electrical division of the health centre, however, no casualties or injuries were reported.“The timely intervention by our staff along with the fire and emergency department helped prevent the fire from spreading further,” he said.Police have registered a case and further investigations has been taken up to ascertain the cause of fire.
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