John Wilbert & Rabindranath
Port Blair, Oct 19: The Primary Health Centres were opened by the A & N Administration to take health care facilities to the doorsteps of the people living in remote pockets of the islands, but most of these Primary Health Centre buildings have now remained as mere First-Aid Centres.
As per report, residents living in the remotest pocket of Southern Group of islands Katchal alleged that PHC Katchal is running without a single doctor for the last three days.
Mr. G T Lawrence, General Secretary of Katchal Setters Association told Andaman Sheekha today that the residents said that the residents of this island depends on this PHC for the health service, but from the last two days there were no doctors in the Primary Health Centre while many patients returned home without being treated who had visited the hospital.
“If any serious patient would have visited the PHC seeking treatment in exigency, what would have been the situation, and who would have taken the responsibility, if anything untoward would happen?” the residents interrogated.
To their great disappointment, the basic amenities of the PHC are in bad state, the locals of the area alleged. “We don’t get proper treatment owing to insufficient strength of staff and poor diagnostic facilities at our PHC”, the residents of Katchal rued.
When contacted, a senior Officer of the Health Department said that the matter has been taken up and will be resolved accordingly. He further revealed that, there are two doctors posted in PHC Katchal- one male and the other a female; however, of these two doctors, the male doctor is on leave while the female doctor developed some serious health issues and hence she was brought to G B
Pant for treatment. .
Incidentally, recently a transfer list was out and in which the female Doctor’s name reportedly figured and she would also be transferred to GB Pant Hospital. In order to cope up with the given situation, another doctor from nearby islands has been arranged and dispatched to PHC Katchal who is on duty now, the senior officer told Andaman Sheekha on the condition of anonymity.
