H1N1 virus spread in Kashmir valley in late January and February 2015. It claimed dozens of lives. Fearing the virus may spread out rapidly and become uncontrollable, the then Government decided to open a special ward at Chest Disease Hospital near Dalgate in Srinagar which was slated to be inaugurated in November 2015. Ten months have passed since work on the ward was started and yet it is not brought to completion. Reports are that work on the ward was going on smoothly till October last year but then it slowed down because of unknown reasons even as the funds were available. Five crore rupees were sanctioned for the ward and there is not any obstruction to the flow of funds. The ward is to have high end facilities including a Bio Safety Lab (BSL), diagnostic lab and Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The ward was supposed to be inaugurated in the last week of November 2015. People working at the ward reported that some official decisions taken by the authorities caused serious obstruction in the smooth working of the ward.
Without giving undue importance to minor controversies, we hope that the ward will become functional as early as possible. What is important is to be ready to face any exigency. It is the responsibility of the State to provide all possible support to the Health sector and make it foolproof against vulnerability. Epidemics have become recurrent in these times and people have to be provided excellent medical service.
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