Scanning Health Deptt

Among a number of mechanisms aimed at improving functioning of Government Departments, one is the periodic scanning by a committee appointed by the Legislative Assembly, with definite mandate of reporting and suggesting improvement of the functionality of the department concerned. Recently the Estimates Committee on Health and Medical Education Department has interacted with the departmental functionaries and made various observations as well as recommendations to improve the standard of services rendered by the Department. In an overall estimation, the recommendations made will definitely improve the health services in the State if these are implemented without delay.
The Committee has reported that at least 1000 posts of doctors and 4000 of Para-medical staff were lying vacant in various Government hospitals of Jammu and Kashmir. Shortage of doctors has adversely affected medical services in rural areas. Patients in rural areas have to come to the main hospitals in capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar because urgent medical facilities are not available in rural or even district hospitals. How long will the Government take to fill these vacancies is not clear notwithstanding the assurances given by the departmental authorities that the process of recruitment of doctors and Para-medical staff will be initiated shortly. This is what we have been hearing for a long time.
Another issue that has invited the attention of the Estimates Committee and on which it has reacted strongly is the supply of spurious drugs by pharmaceutical companies. The report minces no words about the nexus that exist between the medicos and the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture spurious drugs. It will be recalled that last year a scandal about supply of spurious drugs was unearthed in Government Medical College Srinagar and on conducting inquiry into the affair, the network of spurious drug supplying had come to light and the authorities had taken corrective measures. However, it is rather difficult to say whether the malaise of manufacturing and supplying spurious drugs in private and Government hospitals has been fully stopped or not. In all probability, the Committee is not convinced that the menace of supply of spurious drugs has been fully eradicated because it has asked the Controller, Drug and Food Control Organization to submit, within three days, a comprehensive report to the Legislative Assembly Secretariat, regarding how many samples of drugs the Organization has lifted from various areas of the State for testing. We strongly believe and the Committee also has expressed that unless strong action is taken against errant medicos and pharmacies, this malaise may not be uprooted. Unfortunately, J&K is one of the States in the country that are afflicted with spurious drug supplies. At the same time, the Committee has also recommended rationalizing of the prices of drugs especially the vaccines because poor people are not in a position to afford expensive but essential drugs. Some system needs to be evolve that would bring relief to the poorer and weaker sections of population when they have no alternative but to go in for essential drugs that are expensive.
From the report of the Committee, one finds that some good and useful suggestions have been made that should be implemented without loss of time. For example, scientific disposal of hospital waste, better facilities for the patients and constituting Village Level Monitoring Committees to ensure effective delivery of healthcare facilities to the common people are all commendable recommendations. We appreciate Committee’s approach that more attention needs to be given to streamlining Healthcare related facilities to the people in rural areas of the State. Though these are not new recommendations and that previously also such recommendations have been made, the emphasis that the Committee has laid in view of Government’s intention of opening five more medical colleges in the State has great relevance to improvement of health services in rural areas.

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