Jammu Tawi, Sep 17: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha with Union Minister of AYUSH, and Ports, Shipping, Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal Friday inaugurated the first batch of BUMS at Government Unani Medical College Ganderbal.
“Out of 60 students, 23 are girls. It is a matter of pride for us and I extend my best wishes to all the young boys and girls in their career. The 60-bed hospital has seven departments – Medicine, Surgery, ENT, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Dermatology, and Treatment by Non-medicinal lifestyle”, LG said.
Lauding the efforts of the concerned officers and executing agency for arranging the comprehensive health facility at a very low cost, the Lt Governor said the Ganderbal Unani Medical College and Hospital will provide basic health services to the population of other districts as well.
Union AYUSH Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal said that with the starting of the first BUMS course, Government Unani Medical College will help promote indigenous systems of medicine in J&K, and also act as a tertiary care health facility for the UT. He further said that AYUSH Ministry is determined to provide basic healthcare services to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Lt Governor said that the first Unani Medical College was started in Jammu and Kashmir in 1962 but due to some reasons, it was closed down in 1967.
The college constructed under the central government scheme at an estimated cost of Rs 32.50 crore, received the financial assistance of Rs 17 crore from the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India.
The Lt Governor said that efforts are afoot for promoting Ayurveda system in J&K. AYUSH Health and Wellness Centers are being set up at different places across the UT by the Ministry of AYUSH.
“There are many areas in the villages where people have more faith in the indigenous medical system and we are constantly trying to provide all its resources to them”, he added.
Noting that J&K UT is one of the best performing UTs/States in the country in terms of health facilities, the Lt Governor said that extensive interventions have been made in the health facilities to develop a state-of-the-art health sector in J&K under the directions of Prime Minister. “The speed and scale at which the health sector transformation has taken place in J&K is remarkable and is now visible in achievements”, he added.
Listing out the data of Health Sector the Lt Governor said that according to the National Family Health Survey, the neonatal mortality rate came down to single-digit 9.8 in 2019-20, from 23.1 in 2015-16. Infant Mortality Rate today has come down to half i.e. 16.3 from 32.4 recorded in 2015-16 survey. The under-5 mortality rate was 37.6 in 2015-16, which has come down by half to 18.5 today.
The Lt Governor said that for the first time in 2016-17, J&K got two new AIIMS and Seven Medical Colleges between 2016 and 2019. The first batch in AIIMS Jammu has started, and the construction of AIIMS Srinagar will start soon. Between 2015 and 2019, two State Cancer Institutes were given to Jammu and Kashmir. Before 2019, there were only 129 health and wellness centers across Jammu and Kashmir. 1275 new health and wellness centers have been set up in two years, informed the Lt Governor.
“In August last year, the oxygen generation capacity in all our hospitals was only 15,000 LPM, which has been increased to 70,000 LPM within 8 months and will be increased to 90,000 LPM by the last week of September. Like Corona management, the UT is also leading in the whole country in vaccination”, he added.
Vivek Bhardwaj, Additional Chief Secretary in his address highlighted the importance of Unani System of Medicine, and underscored the increasing relevance of AYUSH due to its efficacy in the changing scenario.
