Srinagar: Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Thursday expressed concern over poor oral-dental care facilities across the hospitals in Jammu and Kashmir and demanded a job package for the unemployed dental surgeons.
President DAK, Dr Suhail Naik said J&K is facing an unemployment crisis saying that the number of unemployed dental surgeons in JK has reached more than 3000.
He said keeping in view the increasing load of patients in government hospitals for oral health care it is high time to create new posts for dental surgeons.
“Poor people are compelled to seek the consultation of quacks for dental ailments as successive authorities failed to upgrade human power and infrastructure,” he said.
Naik said that the Public Service Commission (PSC) hasn’t advertised any post of dental surgeons for the past 11 years which has created a huge gap in doctor-patient ratio, unemployment and consequent brain drain.
DAK said the unemployed dental surgeons have been pushed to the wall despite being highly professional at a time when there are vacancies in hospitals for such posts.
General secretary DAK, Dr Owais H Dar said the lackadaisical approach of successive governments to upgrade dental health care is responsible for an increased surge in Hepatitis B and C cases in J&K saying that people are forced to consult quacks.
“The patients have no option in the public sector and they fall in the trap of quacks, where they usually get infected with life-threatening diseases including hepatitis,” he said.
Dar said many of the unemployed dental surgeons have crossed the age bar and many are taking antidepressants due to lack of employment opportunities.
DAK demanded that the health department should take this issue seriously and announce a job package for unemployed dental surgeons which would strengthen the public hospitals that often remain paced with patients.
The doctor’s body appealed to the authorities of the National Health Mission (NHM) to come forward and absorb the unemployed dental surgeons in Primary Health Centres and at block and district level.
DAK few days back, a delegation of unemployed dental surgeons met office bearers of DAK about the lack of job opportunities and other issues they are facing.
DAK requested Lieutenant Governor of J&K, Girish Chandra Murmu and Financial Commissioner of Health and Medical Education Department, Atal Dulloo to take cognizance of the matter and take appropriate measures for creation of dental surgeon posts and upgradation dental infrastructure in hospitals across J&K.
