Shadow Correspondent
Anantnag, Jan 3:
Minister for School Education, Higher Education, Social Welfare, Health and Medical Education, Sakeena Itoo, today convened a review meeting at Khanabal to assess the functioning of Health and Medical Education (HME) department in the districts of Anantnag, Kulgam and Shopian.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Commissioner Anantnag Syed Fakhruddin Hamid, Director of Health Services Kashmir, Principal Government Medical College Anantnag, Coordinator of GMCs, Chief Medical Officers of three districts, Medical Superintendents, Block Medical Officers, representatives from the Health and Medical Education Department and other senior officials from the districts. During the meeting, Principal GMC Anantnag and Chief Medical Officers of the districts presented detailed updates on the health infrastructure through PowerPoint Presentations.
The Minister was apprised of ongoing projects being executed under various schemes and informed that most of the construction works are on track for timely completion.
Addressing the officers, Sakeena Itoo directed them to expedite the pace of works for completion of under construction health facilities while ensuring adherence to modern healthcare standards. She laid special emphasis on upgrading infrastructure at primary, secondary and tertiary care hospitals across the three districts. She was informed that all essential facilities including ambulances, equipment and medicines are available in all the hospitals.
The Minister urged for uninterrupted supply of diagnostic tools, advanced medical equipment and life-saving drugs. She emphasised on filling vacant positions of doctors, nurses and paramedics to address staffing shortage in both urban and rural healthcare centers.
She underscored the need for robust preventive healthcare programs including maternal and child health initiatives, immunisation drives and nutritional campaigns. She directed for implementation of telemedicine services in remote areas to improve healthcare accessibility, strengthening of ambulance network and emergency response systems to ensure prompt attention to critical cases. The Minister also directed the executing agencies to complete construction of PHC Pahalgam well before the commencement of SANJY 2025. She also called for robust monitoring mechanism to ensure regular evaluation of health institution performance and accountability at all levels.
Reiterating government’s resolve to provide quality healthcare services, Sakeena Itoo stated, “the public has immense trust in the medical fraternity and it is our responsibility to uphold their faith through dedication, commitment as well as provision of better healthcare services”.
The Minister encouraged all the stakeholders to work collaboratively to ensure successful implementation of policies aimed at improving the health and well-being of the population. She also instructed the officers to submit periodic progress reports of several ongoing projects.
