Valley doctors concerned over medicine shortages

SRINAGAR: Doctors in various hospitals in the Kashmir Valley have expressed grave concern over shortages of drugs, hospital materials and the space available in hospitals to accommodate patients.

Senior doctors working in various hospitals of the Valley held an emergency meeting Thursday to discuss the tremendous difficulties faced by the medical fraternity in coping with the increased workload of emergencies because of the violence here.

In a statement released to the media here, the doctors said they were facing an acute shortage of life-saving drugs, surgical items like cotton, bandages, anaesthetics and drugs.

"The consumption of these items has increased enormously due to the heavy load of patients reporting with bullet injuries," the statement said.

It also said the number of patients arriving at local hospitals including the premier Soura Medical Institute was beyond the capacity of these hospitals.

The statement said the passage of doctors and paramedical staff to their places of posting was being hampered at some places even though the administration has announced that identity cards of doctors and paramedical staff should be treated as curfew passes by the security forces in curfew bound areas.

Besides over 70 people being treated in various hospitals for bullet injuries, there are over 300 other injured people, including 100 policemen, who are presently being treated in hospitals here.