Health care has been one of the priority sector but the sector nation-wide in general and Jammu and Kashmir in particular is pathetic. Patient care has not changed an inch of what it was earlier under all regimes. Doctors’ negligence, patients dependent protesting is an everyday affair and if one talks about the state of health services in Mofussil areas it is no better than the capital cities. Except for promises there is hardly any change. J and K officially has 12 outlets beginning Anantnag, Doda, Jammu, Kargil, Kulgam, Kupwara, Leh, Pulwama, Ramban, Reasi, Srinagar and Udhampur. These outlets are setup to provide generic medicines by cutting profit margins to general public. On the contrary ‘doctor-chemist’ nexus cultivated by the big pharmaceutical companies has become much strong and prosperous. The mushroom growth of chemist outlets is an open indicator of this growing nexus. Under such circumstances how is it possible to provide better healthcare to common man. The last year Union Budget had proposed a National Dialysis Programme to be rolled through private-public participation or popularly known as PPP mode to make medical treatment more accessible to the people. The programme also allows duty-free import of dialysis equipment which could lower treatment cost. Over two lakh renal patients are added every year in the country and the distribution of the health facilities are skewed. The proposed mission envisages to provide affordable and reachable dialysis facilities up to district hospital level. Given the state of health care facilities and services in J and K such proposals becoming operational is doubtful. Surprisingly the State is the recipient twice of the Best State Award from Union Health Ministry —one under the National Conference-Congress coalition and second under the present Peoples Democratic Party and Bharatiya Janata Party regime. Despite all the awards the poor are left at the mercy of private doctors or government doctor’s private practices. But there is no doubt that the proposed benefits are not going to reach the target group—the Jan for whom the affordable and reachable medical treatment would always remain a far-off dream as long as doctor-chemist-pharma company nexus remains.
