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Non-covid patients in J&K must get proper medical facilities: Altaf Bukhari
He said halting OPD and non-emergency services especially at government hospitals in order to divert all its resources to combat Covid-19 is affecting thousands of patients across Jammu and Kashmir.
Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party president Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari on Saturday said the Union territory can no longer afford to focus exclusively on Covid-19 patients as it is jeopardising the health of those suffering from other diseases.
In a statement issued here, Bukhari said, “It’s time we realise that Covid-19 containment is critical but healthcare services for other patients can no longer be ignored.”
“Amid this situation, halting OPD and non-emergency services especially at government hospitals in order to divert all its resources to combat Covid-19 is affecting thousands of patients across Jammu and Kashmir whose lives are on the peril in absence of requisite healthcare facilities,” he said.
“Reduced access to both out-patient and in-patient services can prove fatal for non-Covid patients—both suffering from communicable and non-communicable diseases, Bukhari said, adding that the health and medical education departments must ensure that these patients don’t bear the brunt of the crisis.
“Patients with scheduled surgical procedures and follow-up visits are undergoing an unimaginable crisis. The state in which Cancer patients are forced to live without hospitalisation will prove fatal for many. Similar is the condition of patients suffering from last stage renal disease and dependent on haemodialysis,” he said.
The government and health department should also facilitate routine check-up of psychiatry patients, particularly those suffering from depression, he added.
