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| Healthcare needs better deal | | | It is encouraging to see that the state government is gearing up for a new drug policy which was long overdue for an overhaul but it is still a long way to go for complete overhaul of the health department. To begin with, the government needs to put in place a transparent policy and stringent check on the private medical clinics. Couple of years back the government had acted tough on illegal clinics but many have mushroomed up again even as many of the legal ones are not adhering to the standard practices. The mere fact that such clinics and nursing homes operated throughout the length and breadth of the state for years together is nothing but a sad commentary on the working of the governmental agencies vested with the responsibility of curbing such practices. Had the concerned agencies been active and honest to their mandate, these medical establishments would not have come into being. But as has been the unfortunate reality, such illegal establishments not only existed but also operated without much hassles. Therefore, it is only too obvious that closing down the clinics and nursing homes without initiating any action against those who allowed them to operate is like clipping only the leaves of a poisonous weed and leaving dangerous roots and trunk intact. If the government really means business then it has to proceed against the corrupt officials who permit and patronize ills practices in healthcare sector. Similarly a massive crackdown and overhaul of the Drug Control department too has been due for a long time now. If the number of unlicensed drug shops and other such business establishments is taken as an indicator, it goes without saying that action against the people manning the Drug Control agencies is warranted. There are reports of favours and privileges traded openly for money. Drug inspectors raid illegal and unlicensed medicine shops, forget about any action against the guilty once their palms are greased. And in some rare cases, if ever the shops are sealed and drugs confiscated, the follow-up action falls apart simply because money again trades hands between guilty and the authorities. Indeed, the presence of substandard and spurious drugs in the market should again serve as a grave pointer in this regard. The culpability of the doctors who suggest and prescribe these substandard drugs to their patients just for the sake of few bucks they earn in the form of commissions and gifts from drug companies too merits immediate attention. Such doctors must be taken to task and punished for defiling the trust the ailing people have reposed in them. And what will certainly be the most vital measure in streamlining the medical sector is bringing about a better work-culture in the government hospitals across the state. As of now, unfortunately there is not a single hospital in the entire state which can boast of having a satisfactory record in terms of patient-care or for that matter its administration. If the complaints of the common people against these hospitals are heeded and genuinely looked into, it should not be difficult for the government to assess the pathetic plight of entire medical sector in Jammu and Kashmir. Now that two promising and daring politicians, Rajinder Singh Chib and Sham Lal Sharma head the Medical Education and Health departments, respectively, it has for obvious reasons generated a lot of hope among the people for improvement in the healthcare sector.
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