Excelsior Correspondent
POONCH, Nov 29: Member Legislative Council, Dr Shehnaz Ganai today inaugurated Public Health Centre Plera, in Tehsil Mandi and also provided ambulance, purchased through Constituency Development Fund, to Primary Health Centre in presence of BMO and other Health officials, Panches, Sarpanches and people of the area who had gathered at the venue.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Ganai urged the Government to upgrade the rural Medical infrastructure as more than 90 percent of the population of Poonch District resides in rural areas. She asked the Government to ensure that the emphasis is laid on the expansion and up-gradation of health care infrastructure in the far flung areas.
Dr Ganai said that Government needs to work harder and needs to implement a clearly defined policy with a set of guidelines that will aid in ensuring the sustainability of rural healthcare plans. “This will help in attracting private investment in the rural healthcare segment, including tele-medicine services, remote diagnostics and operation of other rural health services.” She added and urged the Government to declare, rural healthcare as a “priority” growth area, so as to encourage investments in the sector.
Dr Ganai said that majority of rural people die due to preventable and curable diseases like diarrhoea, measles and typhoid as the rural people have to travel miles to seek healthcare assistance. The rural people bear the brunt of common and uncommon diseases and their complications due to the delays in treatment and neglect and therefore, deserve more attention and with the facility of Public Health Centre at the door step and also the Ambulance facility the patients can be timely shifted to other hospitals for better medical facilities and this will definitely increase the OPD/Inpatient and referral percentage in the area, she added.
She said that healthcare is the right of every individual but lack of quality infrastructure, dearth of qualified medical functionaries, non- access to basic medicines and medical facilities thwart its reach to the rural population.