ITANAGAR, 13 Jan: Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Friday said that increase in the number of doctors or state-of-the-art health infrastructure shouldn’t be the basis to measure the status of the state’s health sector.
“Instead, we must measure our health sector progress on the number of patients going out of the state for treatment. The lesser this number goes, the better we have achieved in health sector,” Khandu said, giving a new benchmark to measure the progress of the health sector in the state during the 11th annual conference of the Arunachal Pradesh Doctors Association (APDA) here.
Khandu said that the day nobody from the state goes out for treatment would be the day when the state’s health sector would have achieved its objective.
“Modern infrastructure and equipment and increase in number of specialists and paramedics would mean nothing if our people continue to prefer hospitals and doctors outside the state for all kinds of treatment,” he said.
Khandu, however, admitted that it is easier said than done.
“This cannot be achieved overnight. But this should be our vision, our target when we plan for a better and holistic health sector in the state,” he said.
The chief minister also said that “people are ignorant of the importance of proper mental health,” and requested the medical fraternity to spread awareness on it.
“Mental health is as important as physical health. With the fast-track and cutthroat competition in today’s world, in addition to various complicacies of life, people, without knowing, get mentally sick. This is a major health concern,” he said.
He said that if a person is mentally healthy, he or she would also be physically healthy, and urged the health professionals to focus on this aspect too while chalking out future roadmaps for better health facilities.
Khandu commended the doctors and health workers for their dedicated services during the Covid pandemic.
“Huge increment in the number of institutional deliveries, sharp downfall in infant mortality rate, hundred percent vaccination drives of all categories, etc, can be achieved only through your dedication and sincerity to duty,” he said.
Khandu also commended the outgoing executive members of the APDA “for the novel initiative of instituting two awards – Vishist Swastha Seva Puruskar for outstanding doctors and Swastha Seva Puruskar for paramedics.”
He requested the incoming executive members of the association to make the award conferment an annual event, so that every year a few outstanding doctors and paramedics are awarded.
“This would be a great morale booster for the medical professionals,” he said.
The maiden awards were presented by the chief minister to TRIHMS Assistant Professor (Chest Medicine) Dr Tamar Pallang (Vishist Swastha Seva Puruskar) and Deed Neelam (Lower Subansiri) PHC Nursing Officer Hano Yakang, Supliang (Anjaw) Health & Wellness Centre ANM Mary Tamat, and Naharlagun DHS sanitary assistant Kochada Appal Swamy (Swastha Seva Puruskar).
The programme was also attended by Itanagar legislator Techi Kaso and the health commissioner.
Government and private doctors from across the state, including several senior and retired doctors, are attending the two-day conference, being held at the State Banquet Hall here. (CM’s PR Cell)
