Health insurance to poorer sections in J&K

 Srinagar, June 23 (Scoop News) –J&K  Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said that there is a need for formulating a comprehensive health insurance scheme for the poorer sections of the J&K State to help ensure their better healthcare coverage. “A comprehensive and befitting insurance scheme for this purpose is imperative for ensuring them better medical facilities”, he maintained.

Chairing the 2nd meeting of the Task Force on Health Sector Reforms here today, Omar Abdullah called for optimum utilization of modern health practices to ensure better results. He underlined telemedicine, management and operation of Health institutions, comprehensive policy for PPP projects, drug policy and medicines procurement system as thrust areas for reforming.

                Omar Abdullah said that the ultimate objective of the Government is to ensure cent percent coverage of people especially living in far flung and remote areas under medicare schemes. “The Task Force is to help the Government in making delivery system more vibrant, purposeful and performing. The reforms for the purpose are imperative, and suggestions and recommendations of the Task Force are valuable expert opinion in this regard”, he added.

                        The Chief Minister sought concrete suggestions from the Task Force for expanding the orbit of telemedicine network in the State to cover far off areas like Doda, Kupwara, Poonch, Kishtwar, Kargil, Leh, Zanskar, Uri, Tangdhar, Keran, Wadwan, Machiel, Marwah, Reasi, Ramban etc.     

            Omar said that the Rs. 141 crore National Rural Telemedicine Network Project formulated by the SKIMS will be discussed at various levels with the Central Government for its funding. “Till the project is formally launched the Telemedicine facility in place in the SKIMS needs to be further expanded”, he said.

            The Chief Minister approved Rs. 78 lakh scheme for benchmarking 10 hospitals of the State including Srinagar and Jammu Government Medical Colleges as accredited under the norms and procedures of Quality Council of India. The scheme will help in conducting gap analysis in the delivery mechanism and infrastructural requirements, so that measures are taken to overcome the short comings and filling the gaps. This will also ensure upgradation in service delivery and health care management

            The Task Force while taking stock of the action taken on the decisions and recommendations made by this body also discussed issues pertaining to public private partnership policy, feasibility of state university for medical education, ban on private practice, establishment of clinical research centres etc.

            The meeting was attended by the Minister for Health, Sham Lal Sharma, Minister for Medical Education, R.S. Chib, Chief Secretary S.S. Kapur, Principal Secretary Health and Medical Education, R.K. Jerath, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Khurshid Ahmad Ganai, Commissioner/Secretary Planning, B.B. Vyas, Principal Secretary Finance, Sudhanshu Pandey, Convener of the Task Force, Dr. Ajit K. Nagpal, President, Public Health Foundation of India, Prof. K.S. Reddy, Head of Hospital Administration, AIIMS, Prof. Shakti Kumar Gupta, Advisor, Department of AYUSH, Government of India, Dr. Dinesh Katoch, Chairman, Task Force Apollo Educational and Research Foundation, Prof. Ranjit Roy, Director SKIMS, Prof. Abdul Hamid Zargar, former Principal Medical College, Srinagar, Dr. G.Q. Allaqaband, Directors of Health Departments, Kashmir and Jammu, Principals of Government Medical Colleges of Jammu and Srinagar, Lead Public Health Specialists from World Bank, Dr. Jerry Forgia and Dr. Zainab besides other concerned senior officers.   

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