Just one gynaecologist for over 6L women in Chamba
Lalit Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chamba, December 8
Primary healthcare in Chamba, which was accorded the aspirational district tag by the Central Government in 2018, has crumbled due to an acute shortage of doctors.
For nearly six lakh women in the district, there is only one gynaecologist in the government hospitals while there are no specialists in the tribal areas of Bharmour and Pangi, which remain cut off from the rest of the district during the winter.
As per the data collected by The Tribune, most primary health centres and community health centres in the district are without a doctor. There are seven 100-bed Civil Hospitals at Chowari, Dalhousie, Salooni, Kehar, Tissa, Bharmour and Killar in the district. However, there was only one gynaecologist posted at the Salooni Civil Hospital. Killar and Bharmour Civil Hospitals, which cater to the tribal areas of the Pangi valley and Bharmour, have no medical specialist. Only MBBS doctors are posted there.
Sources said that the district health authorities had created delivery points in the form of dispensaries at various places to encourage women for institutional delivery. However, there was an acute shortage of doctors and medical staff in these dispensaries.
A senior administrative official said that no government official wanted to serve in the district. There was only one staff nurse at the delivery point in the Sanot area, who got herself transferred.
In case of an emergency, patients are either referred to the Chamba medical college or the Tanda medical college in Kangra district.
The Chamba medical college is also facing a shortage of doctors and so does the Tanda medical college. Private hospitals in Pathankot are the only refuge for the residents of the district. However, it takes about eight to 10 hours for patients from far-flung areas to reach Kangra or Pathankot.
Chief Medical Officer, Chamba, Dr Rajesh Guleri admits that there is just one gynaecologist in the entire district in the government hospitals. “We have apprised the government of the situation. Despite various handicaps, 65 per cent deliveries in the district are being done at the government health facilities,” he claimed.
