Health centres in peripheries is in a disarray, says report
Srinagar: The healthcare setup in peripheries is working in a degraded situation—especially the Sub-Centres, Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and Community Health Centres (CHCs) as these are operating without basic facilities like having operation theatres, electricity, water supply and even labour rooms.
Comprehensive document on Rural Health in India issued by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt of India unveils a grim picture of the peripheral healthcare in the state, with more than 54 per cent of functional Sub Centres functioning without regular water supply and more than 25 per cent working without all weather motorable approach road, more than 43 per cent of functioning Sub Centres working without electricity supply.
As per the document, there are 2805 Sub Centres functioning in the state with 1539 running without water supply, 1207 without electricity supply and 707 functioning without all weather motorable approach road.
Similarly, in case of Public Health Centres (PHCs), only half of the existing PHCs are functioning with a labour room, leaving rest of it without the facility of essentially having a labour room.
What is more shocking, as per the figures issued by the GoI, is that there are only 2 per cent of PHCs functioning with a full-fledged operation theatre.
With lacking the basic facility of having much needed labour rooms and operation theatres at PHC level, the PHCs are presenting a good picture when it comes to the accommodation of patients at the PHC, with figures revealing that there are more than 60 per cent of such facilities running with having at least 4 beds.
There are, as per the document, 637 PHCs functioning in the state, with 347 functioning while having a facility of labour rooms, and only 14 PHCs functioning while having a facility of operation theatres.
Moving further, the PHCs are even lacking basic facilities, with more than 16 per cent of PHCs functioning without electricity supply, 21 per cent without regular water supply, more than 17 per cent without an all weather motorable approach road.
As per experts, the primary level of healthcare has to be strong with it complementing the tertiary healthcare, and when the primary healthcare is in shambles, it is telling upon the functioning and the efficiency of the tertiary healthcare.
“See, primarily there has been a mushrooming of the infrastructure in the peripheries, with more importance given to the creation of such an infrastructure rather than focusing on its efficiency,” said President Doctors Association of Kashmir (DAK) Dr Suhail Naik.
As of now, the mass infrastructural build up that has been created in the peripheries, is proving to be counterproductive, with it not complementing the tertiary care, which it should, Naik added.
The huge referral rates from the peripheries to the Srinagar is also being said to have caused due to the defunct primary healthcare in the peripheries, with almost 40 per cent of cases being referred to Srinagar.
Neonatal deaths and the deaths caused due to road traffic accidents, which as per the figures is alarming, is also said to be the causative effects of inefficiency of the patient care in the peripheries.
KV Correspondent
