Qazigund, Feb 01: The residents of Qazigund, known as the gateway to Kashmir, Saturday upped their ante for setting up a Maternity and Child Care Hospital (MCCH) in the area.
The locals urged the government covered old Primary Health Centre (PHC) into new facility stating that the area already has a trauma hospital which caters to the general emergencies.
The locals believe that establishing a Maternity and Child Care Hospital in Qazigund will benefit numerous villages and nearby tehsils. “With the establishment of new facility in Qazigund, people from Kund, Devsar, Banihal, Dooru, and other adjoining areas will have access to maternity care closer to their homes,” said Muhammad Shafi, a local resident and president of the traders’ association.
He added that Qazigund, being a major transit hub, has been overlooked in terms of healthcare facilities. Shafi urged the government to develop the town into a model town by providing essential services for the public’s convenience.
“We are putting this demand before the government and the concerned MLA in the coming days. We hope that the people of Qazigund will receive this much-needed facility for the larger welfare of the entire area,” he added.
Abid Ahmad, another resident said that the villages surrounding Qazigund are mostly rural, making it difficult for people to transport pregnant women to Anantnag hospital for treatment.
“The travel expenses and other challenges add to the difficulties faced by pregnant women and their families. Even for minor gynaecological issues, we have to travel to Anantnag, where the MCCH is already overburdened and located in a congested area,” he said.
A doctor at the old PHC in Qazigund became redundant after the establishment of the Emergency Hospital in the town. Currently, the PHC is operating from a dilapidated building that often faces issues like rainwater leakage and electricity short circuits.
“The existing PHC building is a single-story U-shaped structure. If demolished, the space can be utilised to construct a modern maternity hospital or a new PHC with better infrastructure,” the doctor suggested. He further added that after the trauma hospital was set up, the PHC Qazigund has been largely ignored. The building also houses the office of the Block Medical Officer (BMO), which oversees seven other PHCs, and should have been upgraded long ago.
“Rather than having another general hospital with overlapping facilities, a MCCH is the most viable option for Qazigund,” he said.
