PILIBHIT : The UP chief secretary has directed that ayurvedic, unani and homeopathic medical centres registered with the government be shut down. The directive has been sent to the principal secretary, ayurvedic, unani and homeopathic medicine department. The doctors who work at these centres will be shifted to primary and community health centres (PHCs and CHCs) where they will offer their services along with allopathic doctors. This has left peole in outlying parts of UP districts in a dilemma. Residents said if the other medical centres are shut, patients will have to travel long distances to PHCs and CHCs.
The order, sent on November 29 by chief secretary Rajiv Kumar is yet to be received by Pilibhit chief medical officer (CMO) Dr OP Singh and regional ayurvedic and unani officer, Dr Meera Gangwar.
According to the order, medical officers, pharmacists and other staff members of AYUSH are to be deployed at government primary and community health centres in rural areas with a view to provide better facilities of all methods of medical treatment to patients under a single roof.
The chief secretary has ordered the shifting of those AYUSH medical officers and staff to government primary and community health centers in first phase of the plan who are attached with AYUSH centres being operated in rented or charitable accommodations.
The decision on how the shifting of AYUSH medical staff is to be managed in the first phase will be taken by a committee headed by the CMO of each district. This will include the district homeopathy officer and the regional ayurvedic and unani officer as members. The district magistrates have been empowered to constitute this committee.
U.P Govt Shifts Ayurvedic, Unani and Homeopathic Docs to Govt Health Centres
On being asked how an illiterate rural patient will make a precise selection of the most suitable method of treatment for him in case of availability of all systems of medicines under one roof, CMO Dr OP Singh said that it would be the sole discretion of the patient and the medical officers would not interfere in it.
Regarding the question of appointment of counsellors for rural patients to assist them in choosing a suitable system of treatment, CMO Singh said that he had still not received the order. “However, we will follow the orders of the government without any deviation,” he added.
However, rural residents have expressed concern over access to medical facilities after the enforcement of the new system. A farmer, Bhoomi Prakash, from Lalaurikhera block said that the closure of the ayurvedic medical centre at his location would compel villagers to make a long journey to get treatment, because the centre would be merged with the PHC at Chand Dandi village, 10 km from his village of Khamari Pul.
Regional ayurvedic and unani officer, Meera Gangwar, said, “The current system is providing decentralised medical facilities in rural areas with broader coverage. As many as 36 ayurvedic and 2 unani medical centres are functioning across the district, of which 19 are being run from rented premises. Between April 1, 2016 and March 31 this year, 2.41 lakh rural patients were provided with ayurvedic treatment while 12,483 were treated under unani system of medicine at 2 centres in the district.”
