Under pressure from various quarters for failing to provide medical facilities in remote and mountainous areas, the Uttarakhand Government is now toying with an idea of airlifting doctors to the health camps. The plan came up for discussion in course of a recent meeting senior officials of health department had with the state Chief Minister Harish Rawat.
The Director General of Medical Health department, Dr G S Joshi told The Pioneer that under the plan, the doctors would be sent by helicopter to the medical camps located in inaccessible areas. The department does not have any helicopter or air ambulance at its disposal but would hire the services of private aviation company which would provide the helicopters on rental basis. Joshi said that the department organises regular surgical and clinical camps in the remote areas.
The surgical camps are for a period of seven days and services of surgeon, anesthetist, radiologist, gynecologist, physician and ophthalmologist are required for these camps. The department organised 17 such camps last year and is planning hold 20 such camps this year. The Health minister SS Negi has also asked the department to organise some screening camps also where consultancy facility would be provided to the people of mountainous areas.
The idea of airlifting the doctors, however, has not gone well with those associated with the health services in the State.The fact that the aviation companies charge Rs 2-3 lakh per hour for providing the helicopter services raises question marks on the financial viability of the proposal, especially in a poor State like Uttarakhand.When contacted on phone, the former state Director General of Health services, Dr B C Pathak told The Pioneer that there is no economic sense in the plan as the charges of Aviation Company would be much higher than the camp itself.
He said that instead of taking tough measures against those disinterested to attend the camps, the government seems to have caved in to their pressure tactics and is now pampering them by offering them airlift.Dr Pathak who had served the hill state for decades said that the road network of the state is good enough and the places where the camps are organised are located on road heads.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of 108 Ambulance Services Manish Tinku, however, sounded appreciative of the government’s plan for air-lifting the doctors.He said that the plan would increase the penetration of health services into the inaccessible areas of the state. Tinku said that it would be very convenient for a doctor to attend a camp in the morning and to return home in the afternoon. He said that idea of airlifting doctors instead of patients is innovative and would go a long way in addressing the health related problems of the people of the State.