A question mark on Assam health services

Assam Governor, Janaki Ballabh Pattanaik, who recently fell in the bathroom of Dibrugarh circuit house had to go to the Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (IIMS), New Delhi for treatment of the fracture. Similarly, when the Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi had to undergo by-pass surgery, he was advised to go to Mumbai. This all reflects poorly on Assam’s Health and Family Welfare Department which claims of providing ‘world class’ services in the healthcare sector. It this not a question mark on state’s health services?
If the publicity through the advertisements of the Assam government is to be believed, the state does not lag behind any other state of the country when it comes to health services. The recently launched Sarathi 104, the 24-hour health information helpline is in the service of the people. After Andhra Pradesh, Assam is the only state in the country to implement this service. Any medical advice is available through the telephone round the clock. Mrityunjoy 108 Ambulance services are now available throughout the state. Operation Smile is back in Assam and people can avail of surgical corrections for cleft lip and palate free of cost. The Department of Health and Family Welfare has been successful in bringing new smiles to the faces of 2030 children and their families in Assam so far. These are the achievements shown in the newspapers.
In harmony with the Government’s effort to make quality healthcare services affordable and accessible, the Model Hospital Construction Scheme has been launched. Under this scheme 60 model hospitals with state-of-the art healthcare facilities would be provided to the people. All this is being done by the Department of Health and Family Welfare without improving the condition of already existing hospitals and healthcare centers. However, the VIPs’ lack faith in such services and prefer to go out of the state for medical services.
It is strange that despite such claims, the conditions of the hospitals and medical colleges in the state are not able to bring much relief to the patients. Medicines in the hospitals are not given to the patients who are asked to purchase the same from pharmacies outside the hospitals. Absence of competent doctors and staff members is a very common incidence. A few cases of service by Mrityunjoy 108 had been reported earlier, when the ambulance was deployed to pickup patients without having oxygen and other necessary materials.
The VIPs and affluent people can afford to go to big cities for treatment, but this is not possible for the common people. The state government should have planned to improve the services of the existing hospitals and take services of competent staff instead of laying too many foundation stones for new centers. The model hospital scheme has been started with foundation stone laying ceremonies and so far two foundation stones have been laid. Like many other schemes in the past a section of the society suspects that this scheme would also end with the laying of foundation stones.