Though unpredictable weather conditions and topographical position of Jammu & Kashmir necessitates greater focus on creation and development of health facilities for children in both Kashmir Valley and as well as Jammu division but it was only after decades of neglect that Government started focusing on modersnising the health facilities for children in both Kashmir Valley and Jammu division . The functioning of a new 500 bed Children Hospital from a spacious building equipped with modern equipments at Bemina in the outskirts of Srinagar is in itself an indication of the increasing focus of the Government on development of health facilities in Kashmir Valley. Significantly project for the construction of Children Hospital Bemina Srinagar was taken up for execution only after 2019 when Governor’s rule was in force in the erstwhile J&K state and the hospital was thrown open to public in 2021. For about last one and a half year the functioning of Children Hospital at Bemina Srinagar has eased the accessibility of people to pediatric health services in Kashmir Valley but still several issues concerning pediatric health services remain unaddressed . Though the irrefutable fact is that the facility of Children hospitals at all district headquarters could have eased increasing stress on the patient care services at new Children Hospital Bemina but it is an irrefutable fact that a quiescent approach of the successive popular Governments of erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir state towards pediatric health services is a major cause of the inaccessibility of people to prompt pediatric health facilitie in the major towns of Kashmir with Summer Capital Srinagar and Winter Capital Jammu being the only two exceptions in Jammu & Kashmir.
“Though Children Hospital Bemina now also figures in the latest ranking of Public Health facilities on Hospital Management Information System (JK e Sahaj) but the issue of concern still remains the accessibility of people to pediatric health services in other districts of Kashmir Valley besides Srinagar and Jammu. So without easing the accessibility of people to pediatric health services at all the district hospitals the broader objective of taking the pediatric health services at the doorsteps of the people can’t be achieved”.
While neonatal deaths in 2012 at 140 bedded G B Pant Children Hospital at Sonwar in the cantonment areas of Srinagar brought into disrepute the working of pediatric health facilities in Kashmir Valley, the Child cardiology, neurology, gastroenterology, neonatology, nephrology, pediatric surgery and orthopedics are the best facilities available at new Children Hospital at Bemina Srinagar and hopefully the neonatal deaths won’t storm health & medical education department at the new Children hospital at Bemina Srinagar from now onwards. Though Children Hospital Bemina now also figures in the latest ranking of Public Health facilities on Hospital Management Information System (JK e Sahaj) but the issue of concern still remains the accessibility of people to pediatric health services in other districts of Kashmir Valley besides Srinagar and Jammu. So without easing the accessibility of people to pediatric health services at all the district hospitals the broader objective of taking the pediatric health services at the doorsteps of the people can’t be achieved.
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