The increasing focus on healthcare facilities in Jammu & Kashmir in view of increasing changes in the public health system in rest of the country has thrown up new challenges to healthcare workers particularly doctors who play a central role in the working of healthcare facilities both in government and private hospitals in Jammu & Kashmir. So while doctors day reminds people of the responsibility to acknowledge the selfless services of health workers particularly doctors during the challenging situations like the covid-19 pandemic, it also reminds doctors about their commitment to the causes of improvement in the public health system at the centres of public health facilities popularly called “hospitals”. Knowing that public health is all about promotion of healthcare facilities and treatment of critical ailments doctors playing different roles in different capacities in different situations are also concerned about changes in the basic public health system in Jammu & Kashmir. While some doctors are engaged in research for the purposes of finding out a treatment for incurable critical ailment at top medical research centre within and outside the country, thousands of doctors are engaged with the practices and procedures of health inquiries and investigations for the purposes of facilitating recovery of patients from different ailments at Government run hospitals. So by all standards of understandabilities the actions of doctors set the standards for the public health system in Jammu & Kashmir like all other parts of the country. Never forget that it is the public health system which changes the quality of life in any part of the world and Jammu & Kashmir too is not an exception. While health procedures are pursued in hospitals to treat diseases and injuries, public health system is run to keep populations healthy.
Though onus of changing the dimensions of public health system lies on the health and medical education department but ultimately the success of public health system in Jammu & Kashmir like other parts of the country depends on the coordination of efforts and collaboration between the top referral hospitals and the doctors connected with the delivery of health care facilities at rural and semi-urban health care centres.
In one way or the other doctors practice health interventions for furthering the bigger causes of healthy populations but irrefutable fact is that heath interventions by doctors won’t be possible without the availability of health facilities at the hospitals. In the emerging health scenario in Jammu & Kashmir reducing inequalities in health infrastructure at urban and rural hospitals through upgradation of basic health care infrastructure is the key to promotion of public health system. For removing the inequalities in health infrastructure the process could begin with the changes in the priorities, plans, budgetary provisions, and time bound implementation of approved plans in different sectors of public health system. Though onus of changing the dimensions of public health system lies on the health and medical education department but ultimately the success of public health system in Jammu & Kashmir like other parts of the country depends on the coordination of efforts and collaboration between the top referral hospitals and the doctors connected with the delivery of health care facilities at rural and semi-urban health care centres.
