Early Times Report
Jammu, Mar 12: The lack of kidney transplant facility in government hospitals of Jammu is forcing hundreds of patients to go to other states for treatment.
"In the absence of the facility, all patients of kidney transplant are referred outside the state," a doctor said and added, "This has been bringing a bad name to the health sector in J&K which boasts of giving priority to the people's health."
He said Jammu had been crying for upgradation of health sector in the region, but all in vain.
"The concerned authorities are only busy in paper work and making fake promises with people whenever the demand is raised and nothing on the ground level is being done. Jammu has a Super Specialty hospital and a GMCH, where people with kidney problems visit, but it is very unfortunate that kidney transplant facility is yet not available in these hospitals," he said.
As these hospitals are devoid of the kidney transplant facility, patients are left with no option than to go for dialysis and survive on the mercy of god.
Krishanjeet Singh Mehta, a retired RDD employee, has been on dialysis for the past seven years. In spite of his willingness to get rid of regular dialysis and go for a kidney transplant, he is unable to do so because the Jammu hospitals lack this facility.
"There is nothing wrong in saying that the health department is playing with the lives of patients suffering from kidney diseases in our state," the doctor said.
Pawan Mehta said, "The primary requirement for a kidney transplant is to have a donor. Even if we get a donor, we cannot get the procedure done here as the main referral hospital does not provide the services. We have an option to go to the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Srinagar, for the surgery but it is not easy to go to a new place and get the treatment done."
Another patient Radhika Sharma, a resident of Bakshi Nagar, said, "Last year, my husband and me both had a kidney transplant done at AIIMS, Delhi. The doctors detected a severe kidney infection and advised us immediate kidney transplantation and referred us to AIIMS Delhi, for surgery. It is unfortunate that not a single hospital in Jammu provides this facility to patients. It is very difficult to manage such a huge amount and then move out of the state to get the treatment done," she said. |
