Srinagar: Promising to accord top priority to health sector, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on Thursday said his government would welcome setting up of advanced tertiary healthcare centres in Jammu and Kashmir, and urged renowned doctors hailing from the state to return and provide succour to the people.
“World-renowned doctors from the state, who are practising abroad, should return and provide succour to the people who have gone through very difficult times,” Sayeed said after inaugurating the four-day ‘Asian Consensus Meeting on Metabolic Surgery-2015’ at Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) here.
Renowned surgeons from 30 countries including the US, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and Middle East countries will deliberate and evaluate the controversies in bariatric surgeries during the conference, organised by SKIMS, in collaboration with the Centre for Obesity and Diabetes Surgery (CODS), Mumbai.
Sayeed said the government would welcome setting up of advanced centres of tertiary healthcare so that people do not have to travel to other parts of the country for advanced medical treatment.
The Chief Minister said people from many western countries are increasingly visiting India for low-cost medical care. “Jammu and Kashmir is also suited for medical tourism given the advantages we have in reduced costs for treatment, latest technologies and growing compliance with international quality standards,” he said.
Sayeed said a very few places in the world will offer better destinations for post-operative care than Kashmir. “It is apt that our famous leisure destinations like Gulmarg and Pahalgam are popularly known as health resorts,” he added.
The Chief Minister said the delivery system across the state would be upgraded in terms of manpower and equipment so that institutes like SKIMS primarily focus on advancement of research and betterment of healthcare.
Specialist doctors would be posted at all district hospitals that will be equipped with latest machines to cater to the needs of the people, he said.
Urging upon the doctors to interact with their compatriots at global level, the Chief Minister said “the conference is a wonderful opportunity for our doctors to acquaint themselves with new techniques and best practices in vogue”.
The Chief Minister said steps have to be taken to facilitate people to undertake consecutive visits for medical treatment. “We need to incorporate medical tourism in the state’s ‘Tourism Policy’. This will allow foreign nationals to stay in Jammu and Kashmir for a longer period for the purpose of treatment,” he said.
Expressing concern over abnormal increase in the number of cases of obesity and diabetes, especially among youth, Sayeed called upon the experts to put their heads together and come out with mutually-agreed results which would prove beneficial for treatment of the disorders.
“This is a Consensus Conference, which indicates that difference of opinion exists. I hope we are able to arrive at decisions that provide permanent cure to obesity and diabetes,” he added.
SKIMS will also be holding a live operative workshop on bariatric surgeries during the Conference.
