But do we have the necessary infrastructure and manpower to ensure that we take care of human lives? Asks Kashoo Tawseef.

As goes the Kashmiri adage 'zuv aur jahan aur' meaning health is wealth but unfortunately here we don't focus much on it and lack of infrastructure and health consciousness adds more to the agony. The debate well started and illustrated by Dr Khuroo's article about state healthcare, and the subsequent letters and opinions provide food for thought for one and all, as it concerns all. When we talk of healthcare of our state things always happen in a weird way and more oddly when it is related to health and hygiene. The food items that people consume before purchasing from the market are kept for display by the green grocers, shopkeepers, and street vegetable vendors openly and without any proper storing system and at the end of day the whole dust of the bad roads contaminates these food items and unhygienic food items are being consumed by general public, while on the other hand, if you look at the foot-ware shops or any other non-food stuff items, they are being kept in a clean and well arranged glass cases to please and delight the customers. Results being increase in number of illnesses among the common masses of the state, and the recent advertisement by the SKIMS was an eye opener, mentioning about the number of out-door patients that visit the states tertiary care hospital during last year.
And more bizarrely, if one looks at the prestigious hospital of the state, SKIMS, one will be more surprised rather shocked to know that the death occurred last year due to H1N1 and the same patient was kept in the general ward of the hospital. Still after almost three years of the H1N1 pandemic, the general masses don't know if and buts of the virus, and that again results in the increase in the number of illnesses in the state. Irony is that the concerned officials of health at the airport are using surgical mask while as three layers mask is recommended for it. They are themselves at risk of being infected with H1N1, how can they operate others. We surely need to explore the mechanism for fixing responsibility whenever any death occurs in any hospital in the state but the question is how and who will fix it and own the responsibility.
Another snag is the lack of proper medical infrastructure, medical technologies, and medical expertise; whatever is available is either defunct or not working properly. As was well illustrated by someone in a letter that operation theatre has been kept in the third floor, making it difficult for patients to reach out there at ease and elevators meant for that often happen to be out of order. Moreover for digital X-ray SMHS, the patients are referred to outside the hospitals then what purpose hospitals serve remains unanswered.
With all such unanswered questions one can say that here in the state everything except life has a value.

[Feedback at k.tawseef@gmail.com]

Lastupdate on : Fri, 5 Mar 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 5 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 6 Mar 2010 00:00:00 IST