Lack of medical professionals in peripheries, drug abuse major challenge in J&K’s health sector

Srinagar, Nov 11: The lack of medical professionals in the peripheral areas and the meager presence of the private health sector in Jammu and Kashmir barring capital cities are among the major challenges for the health sector in J&K.

The recent government report has pointed out that the child sex ratio of the erstwhile state of J&K declined sharply from 941 in Census 2001 to 862 as per Census 2011.
“However, the recent National Family Health Survey-5 released in 2020 has shown improvement in sex ratio at birth in UT of J&K from 923 in 2015-16 to 976 in the year 2019-20, even the SRS data of 2020 has shown an increase of three points from 918 to 921,” the report reads.

The report has pointed out that the lack of medical professionals in the peripheral areas and the meager presence of the private health sector in Jammu and Kashmir barring capital cities have thrown up a major challenge in the health sector of J&K.

The government report has shed light on new communicable diseases and their variants, which have become a major threat to the health sector.

“These diseases result in epidemic and pandemic form and are emerging at an unprecedented rate like EBOLA, bird flu, swine flu, Zika, and Coronavirus," it reads. The government report said that the increased prevalence of non-communicable diseases like anaemia, hypertension, diabetes, and cancer were also among the major challenges in the health sector.

“Drug abuse, especially among the youth leading to health issues, is one of the major threats for the health sector of J&K,” the government report reads.

However, the government report has pointed out some major developments achieved by the department noting that some important health parameters were improving with each passing year as depicted by various health surveys.

“The SDG score has improved from 62 to 70 as per the NITI Aayog, GoI, and J&K has achieved global targets of U-5 Mortality Rate and Fully Immunisation Children of 9-11 months,” it reads.

As per the report, the universal health coverage for the entire population with 98 percent of families stands registered under PMJAY-SEHAT while the percentage of fully immunised children (12-23 months) is nearing saturation.

“Life expectancy at birth in J&K has reached 74.1 years, which is highest in the country after Kerala and Delhi, while the national average is 69.4 years (SRS),” it reads.

The Infant Mortality rate (IMR) has declined to 16.3 per 1000 lives with a decline of 16 points as per the NFHS-5 data while J&K has already achieved the replacement level of fertility.

“Geographically, the presence of health institutions has broadly been achieved as per IPHS norms and world-class infrastructure is coming up across all the regions of J&K,” the report reads.

It reads that the Health Department is prepared for various diseases and pandemics as the infrastructure and logistics have enhanced significantly during the last couple of years.