Nagaland Senior Retired Doctors' Association flags delay in making Nagaland Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (NIMSR) fully functional.
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DIMAPUR — The new team of the Nagaland Senior Retired Doctors' Association (NSRDA) convened its first executive meeting at Hotel Japfü, Kohima, on March 7.
In a press release, the NSRDA stated that members engaged in a marathon discussion on various pressing issues concerning health care service delivery, with a special focus on the non-functional hospital of the Nagaland Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (NIMSR) at Phriebagei, Kohima.
The house observed that even after a decade since the project’s initiation, the medical college is yet to have a fully functional hospital. Members raised concerns and expressed dismay at the snail-paced development.
“A fully functional medical college hospital shall greatly benefit the students pursuing professional courses in the college as well as the patients needing tertiary health care.
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“As the senior retired doctors, the association cannot remain silent spectators to the sorry state of affairs of the only medical college in the state,” the release stated.
The house also discussed concerns regarding the Chief Minister's Health Insurance Scheme (CMHIS).
Despite government employees regularly contributing to the scheme, only an affluent fraction of the populace has the means to avail themselves of the facility in far-flung corporate hospitals, the association alleged.
It also questioned the rationale behind empanelling corporate hospitals when the large majority of the population cannot access such high-end facilities outside the state.
The NSRDA emphasised that the completion of the envisioned state-of-the-art medical college and hospital is most pressing, as it will enable patients to avail of CMHIS at their doorstep.
Further, the association expressed disappointment at the collapsing primary health care delivery at the periphery.
“It observed that transfer posting problems, chronic absenteeism of doctors at their places of posting, and the prevailing unethical roster system of working at their own convenience are some basic problems causing poor health care delivery at the periphery,” the statement said.
The association called upon all working doctors to exhibit ethical professionalism in their duties to serve humanity in the best possible way.
Additionally, it urged the concerned department to streamline its workforce to ensure equitable health care delivery without compromise.
The discussion concluded with a decision to urge the government to show political will, accelerate ongoing works, and complete the project at the earliest in the larger interest of the citizens of Nagaland, the release added.