WE THE PEOPLE
Handwara District Hospital presents mixed Picture of Hope and Despair
Hence People urge Govt., to upgrade its Infrastructure to Meet Day to Day demands of Patients
By: MNS/ Makhdoomi
Srinagar: While continuing our Survey of Health-care facilities in Kashmir valley, we chose Kupwara, which is the backward frontier District of Kashmir Valley, full of scenic beauty. Dense forests and rich wild life make it significant from tourism and wildlife point of view. Nature has been very kind to Kupwara. District Kupwara was carved out form erstwhile District Baramulla in the year 1979. The District Headquarter "Kupwara" is situated at a distance of 90 kms from the summer capital of state, i.e. Srinagar.
The District is situated at an average altitude of 5300 feet from the sea level. The geographical area of the District is 2379 sqkms The north west part of the District is bound by line of actual control (L.O.C)) while the southern portion is bound by the District Baramulla. There are three bad pocket areas, namely, Machil, Keran and Karnah located near L.O.C which remains land locked for more than six months in a year. There are some other areas located at barbed distances and remain cut off from District Headquarter for a considerable time, like Kumkadi, Lashdat, Jumgund, Kethanwali and Budnambal.The district has burning needs in terms of overall healthcare.
The main health care facility of the district is the Handwara District Hospital located at 1 kilometre distance from the main Handwara Township. It is worth pointing out here that this healthcare facility was elevated to the district hospital in 1984, this hospital caters to the health needs of more than 3 lac people. A recent visit of our correspondent to this healthcare facility revealed a mixed picture filled with positive and negative aspects.
On the positive side of the spectrum, the hospital provides some of the drugs to the patients which otherwise is not a case with other hospitals located in our part of the world. A sizable number of medical tests are carried out in the hospital laboratory. Besides some of the complex surgeries like the tonsillitis surgery are also being conducted in this hospital. This facet is probably the brightest aspect of the Handawara District Hospital and gives it edge over the other rural health care facilities.
The food provided in the hospital canteen is also of quiet satisfactory standard and meets the desired expectations. The parking space in the hospital is also quiet impressive and a sizeable area is present wherein the attendants of patients can relax.
Aijaz Rasool, a patient attendant said, "Over the past few years, the Handwara District Hospital has constantly shown signs of marked improvement in terms of the overall function. The patients are provided with some free basic drugs in the hospital. The numbers of medical tests conducted in this hospital are also impressive in number and quality. A good number of surgeries are being conducted in our district hospital. I can without doubt say that although the District Hospital is yet to achieve desired excellence, but the health facility is definitely showing signs of improvement on constant basis."
Patients and their attendants also state that over the past few years there has definitely been up gradation both in terms of the human resource and the infrastructure in the Handawara District Hospital.
All these facets are one side of the coin .On the other side of the spectrum; the Handwara District Hospital also presents a lot of grey facets that demand attention from the concerned stakeholders. We would be deliberating upon them in our second series on this healthcare facility............................(To be continued)
More 
