Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha said on Friday that the Union Territory is one of the best performing regions in the country in terms of health facilities and his administration has developed state-of-the-art health infra to ensure the best medical facilities for our citizens.
Sinha made these remarks during the inauguration of the first batch of BUMS at Government Unani Medical College, Ganderbal with Union Minister of AYUSH, and Ports, Shipping, Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday, an official spokesperson said. The LG congratulated the students and faculty members of the first batch of Bachelor in Unani Medicine and Surgery (BUMS) through virtual mode and wished for their bright future.
“Out of 60 students, 23 are girls. It is a matter of pride for us and I extend my best wishes to all the young boys and girls in their career. The 60-bed hospital has seven departments – Medicine, Surgery, ENT, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Dermatology, and Treatment by Non-medicinal lifestyle,” Sinha said.
Lauding the efforts of the concerned officers and executing agency for arranging the comprehensive health facility at a very low cost, the LG, as per the official spokesperson said that the Ganderbal Unani Medical College and Hospital will provide basic health services to the population of other districts as well. The LG said that the first Unani Medical College was started in Jammu and Kashmir in 1962 but due to some reasons, it was closed down in 1967.
According to the official spokesperson, the LG termed the Unani Medical College as the first Government Unani College of modern times and said that like many projects, this college too was conceived 10 years back but only in the last two years has it been completed with a focused work.
“This symbolizes our resolve to build a strong infrastructure in healthcare sector,” Sinha said.
The college constructed under the central government scheme at an estimated cost of Rs 32.50 crore, received the financial assistance of Rs 17 crore from the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India.
The LG, as per the official spokesperson expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for liberal funding for the creation of infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir and said that the Ministry of AYUSH, under the guidance of the PM has done unprecedented work in indigenous systems of medicine, research and healthcare.
“I sincerely hope that Unani Medical College Ganderbal will play its important role in promoting indigenous system of medicine in J&K UT, especially in Kashmir Division”, Sinha said.
Noting that J&K is one of the best performing UTs/states in the country in terms of health facilities, the Las per the official spokesperson said that extensive interventions have been made in the health facilities to develop a state-of-the-art health sector in J&K under the directions of Prime Minister.
“The speed and scale at which the health sector transformation has taken place in J&K is remarkable and is now visible in achievements,” Sinha said.
Listing out the data of Health Sector, the LG said that according to the National Family Health Survey, the neonatal mortality rate came down to single-digit 9.8 in 2019-20, from 23.1 in 2015-16. Infant Mortality Rate today has come down to half i.e. 16.3 from 32.4 recorded in 2015-16 survey. The under-5 mortality rate was 37.6 in 2015-16, which has come down by half to 18.5 today.
According to the official spokesperson the LG said that for the first time in 2016-17, J&K got two new AIIMS and Seven Medical Colleges between 2016 and 2019. The first batch in AIIMS Jammu has started, and the construction of AIIMS Srinagar will start soon.
“Between 2015 and 2019, two State Cancer Institutes were given to Jammu and Kashmir. Before 2019, there were only 129 health and wellness centers across Jammu and Kashmir. 1275 new health and wellness centers have been set up in two years,” the LG said.
Observing that there was no health insurance scheme in J&K before 2019, Sinha, as per the official spokesperson said that Prime Minister gave a scheme named Ayushman Bharat Sehat to UT in December 2020, in which health insurance of 5 lakh per family is being provided to all citizens without any discrimination. 49 lakh beneficiaries are registered and 45.48 lakh golden cards have been made available.
The LG, he said, also lauded the hard work of doctors, health workers, and other services and said that his administration has ensured that during the second wave in Jammu and Kashmir, no one faced any problem of oxygen beds.
“In August last year, the oxygen generation capacity in all our hospitals was only 15,000 LPM, which has been increased to 70,000 LPM within 8 months and will be increased to 90,000 LPM by the last week of September. Like Corona management, the UT is also leading in the whole country in vaccination,” Sinha said.
According to the official spokesperson, the Union AYUSH Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal said that with the starting of the first BUMS course, Government Unani Medical College will help promote indigenous systems of medicine in J&K, and also act as a tertiary care health facility for the UT.
“He further said that the AYUSH Ministry is determined to provide basic healthcare services to the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.
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