JK’s Ailing Healthcare Mocks at India Today Excellence Award

Health Highlights

•Neonatal mortality rate highest in J&K

•CBR declines from 31 in 1981 to 17.5 in 2013

•Fertility rate higher in middle aged women

•4000 cancer patients registered annually at SKIMS

•DPT immunization drive touches only the 38% of the population

•TT immunization slowest down from 64.4% 2013-14 to 59% in 2014-15

•No surgical unit at the lone pediatric hospital for 30,000,00 children

SRINAGAR: Notwithstanding the India Today group awarding excellence certificate to Jammu and Kashmir State in the healthcare sector, the scenario is quite dismal as per the latest report by Health and Family Welfare statistics of India-2015 digest.

The report shows a higher percentage of neonatal mortality as compared to the other states of India with around 78.4% in the year 2013-14. If this is what the Group has felicitated the state for, it must raise many an eyebrow and ask some serious questions with regard to the credibility of the institution as also on the healthcare scenario.

The number of neonatal deaths per 1000 in the state was around 32 which is much higher than national average of 29. More over the crude birth rate in the state declined from 31 in 1981 to 17.5 in 2013. Also, the fertility rate has declined from 2.3 to 1.9 percent which shows a decline of about 17.8 percent from the last 30 years. 

According to a study conducted over a period of ten years, the middle-aged women in the state are more fertile than their younger counterparts.

The state is also showing a spike in various other diseases. As per the data available with the SKIMS, about 30 patients are seen with cancer-related illnesses per day. Some 4000 patients are registered annually at the hospital. The overall percentage of cancer patients in the state has dramatically increased from 30 to 70 percent something that should mock at the recent India Today honour.

Some 80 percent of patients received at various city hospitals belong to the rural areas. The infrastructure at the primary level is fatally dismal and at the district level, equally appalling. 

The target fixed by the government for the completion of DPT immunization drive has touched only the 38 percent of the population. Similarly, the TT immunization drive has also slowed down from 64.4 percent in 2013-14 to 59 percent in 2014-15.

“The award is eyewash, a hoax, propaganda” says Dr. Altaf, a noted pediatrician. “That the state has over 30 lakh children yet there’s a lone pediatric hospital, should explain for itself why the Tata Group has chosen the state for an excellence award.”

“The hospital has only 130 beds for accommodation and there is no pediatric surgical ward,” Dr Altaf said. “In case of any exigency, the lucky ones are shifted to the SMHS and those who don’t end up in graves.”

Sharing similar views, Dr. Riyaz Tasleem, a general physician from the GMC is annoyed with the award. “The patients here are simply dying for want of a proper healthcare,” he said. “We may be doing better as compared to a few states but the fact of the matter is we seriously lacking facilities here.”

Gynecologist Dr. Rifat Ara sees an improvement in the healthcare at certain levels but says it can in no way be regarded as up-to-the-mark.

Dr. Showkat Zargar, Director of SKIMS, however, feels elated about the award though believes improvement in the healthcare has still a scope. “We should be happy that we have been given the award but I agree there are certain things in health sector where we have to improve,” he said. “I think we are doing well in comparison to other states.”

“The privately owned health facilities are running without any regulation,” Dr. Showkat said.  “Some doctors charge huge fee and this is the area where the authorities need to put in place proper regulation.”

 He said the cost of drugs is also a major issue in the state. “A drug that should cost Rs 200 for example, is sold for Rs 600 and yet, there’s no policy to put a check on the rates.”

Dr. Shafqat Khan, Medical Superintend of GB Pant hospital also expresses his happiness over the award and thanks the India Today Group for such acknowledgment.

He, however, couldn’t satisfactorily reply to the query as to why children should be shifted to the SMHS whenever a surgery is required to be done. “We are taking the matter up with the concerned authorities,” he said.

Whether the state deserves an award or not, the fact of the matter is the healthcare system in the state where a dermatologist would attend to a gynae patient in a hospital, is anybody’s guess. 

Pertinently, a 24-year-old lady has died recently when a dermatologist attended on her in the absence of a gynecologist at sub-district hospital Bijbehara. The woman delivered a dead baby before passing away.

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