‘Dedicated efforts needed in dealing with mental health care in J&K’

Srinagar, Dec 12: Administrative Secretary J&K Health and Medical Education (H&ME) Department Bhupinder Kumar on Tuesday stated that dedicated efforts and more focus were needed in dealing with the mental health care in Jammu and Kashmir.

He said that besides other health care facilities, the J&K government has been giving more focus on mental health care.

“Looking at the incidents of mental health it certainly calls for more focus and dedicated efforts in dealing with mental health care,” he said.

Bhupinnder Kumar was the Chief Guest of the function and joined the event online organised by the Department of Community Medicine at Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar in collaboration with World Health Organisation (WHO) India to commemorate Universal Health Coverage Day.

Kumar said that Tele MANAS was proving fruitful in terms of dealing with mental health care. “Despite our focus and efforts, there is certainly a huge gap in access to mental health care and Tele tel Manas is trying to fill these gaps,” he said.

He further said that the J&K government spends one of the highest per capita of the budget in the health sector which was possible only because of the continuous investment in the health care system and its human resource.

“That is why we can say that indicators be it related to infant mortality or maternal mortality, we have seen that our indicators have considerably improved,” he said.

He said the government has made a considerable improvement in the health care system and at present there are 4000 health and wellness centres established throughout Jammu and Kashmir.

“Our access to the health care facilities has increased tremendously because a lot of focus has been given towards enhancing access to health care. Besides setting up new health centres, the existing facilities have been upgraded in terms of infrastructure and availability of human resources,” he said.

He said J&K was perhaps among few states where a health cover of Rs 5 lakhs is being provided to every individual under Ayushma Bharat which provides a major relief to patients and prevents huge expenditures from their pockets.

“Likely 1200 individuals are treated on a daily basis under the scheme. I must say that we have been able to make a lot of interventions in the health sector,” he said.

He said that two AIIMS and cancer institutes are also coming up in Jammu and Kashmir which will further improve the health care facilities for patients and do away with the practice of patients going outside for treatment. “Health care will be far better, affordable and accessible,” he said.

Bhupinder Kumar said that collective efforts and team work is the key towards better health care services. “We will all have to work as a team to make it a reality on ground. We have made a considerable
improvement but I still believe that there is a long distance which is yet to be covered and I have no doubt that with everybody’s cooperation and efforts we will realize this goal well before the timeline of 2030 which has been set up for it,” he said.

Dr. Hilde De Graeve, the team leader of the WHO country office in New Delhi in her address at the occasion as Guest of Honour appreciated the J&K government for the substantial progress and investments made in the health sector.

She highlighted the significance of expanding healthcare services, particularly reaching out to those currently facing limited access noting that it underscores the dedicated endeavors of the J&K health department.

She also lauded the administration's effective steps in addressing mental health care.

"The challenge of mental health is a reality not only in Kashmir but all over the world. So it is important to invest in mental health care services," she said.

Principal and Dean, Government Medical College, Srinagar Prof. Masood Tanvir was the Patron for the event, Director AYUSH Dr. Mohan Singh, State Nodal Officer, NHM Dr. Shafi Koka, Assistant Director Family Welfare and Immunization Dr. Masarat Jabeen, Assistant director health Kashmir Dr. Yasmeen Kangu, Head of the Community Medicine Department GMC Srinagar Prof. (Dr.) S M Salim Khan was also present at the occasion.