Hope for Quick Repair: SKIMS Official
SUHAIL KHAN
SRINAGAR, Sep 02: As Jammu and Kashmir’s health sector gains attention for notable achievements, concerns are also surfacing regarding persistent gaps in patient care. Issues such as service delays and broken equipment at government-run hospitals remain a critical problem for patients across the region.
The latest issue involves Kashmir’s sole PET-CT scan machine, which has been out of service for the past two weeks at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS). This has severely impacted patient care, leaving many cancer patients in the lurch. Disturbingly, top officials at SKIMS seemed to be unaware of the situation.
Sameer Ahmad (name changed), one of the patients affected, expressed frustration to Kashmir Despatch. He shared that for the past two weeks, patients were repeatedly told that the machine would be fixed “today,” but that promise remains unfulfilled. “While the government boasts of improved healthcare, the ground reality tells a different story. The struggles of ordinary patients seem to be overlooked unless they belong to influential families,” Sameer added.
Another family from Baramulla, also awaiting treatment, confirmed that they had been visiting SKIMS for over two weeks but received no concrete information about when the machine would be repaired. Although authorities had claimed the PET-CT scan machine was critical for cancer diagnosis and treatment in the region, the reality has been far from the promised level of service. The prolonged breakdown is causing significant distress for patients who need these critical scans.
When contacted, SKIMS Public Relations Officer Kulsoon Bhat appeared unaware that the machine had been non-functional for the past two weeks. Downplaying the situation, she stated that such occurrences are not unusual and that patients are being provided scans at reduced costs. However, she assured that she would verify the situation with her superiors.
Later, Kashmir Despatch spoke to senior official at SKIMS , who confirmed that the machine had indeed been out of service for two weeks. He also shared some good news: a technical team from Delhi had arrived, and the machine was expected to be operational again by the evening.
In modern oncology, PET-CT scans are vital tools in the management of cancer. Yet, despite the critical need, Kashmir has only one PET-CT scan machine, making this disruption even more problematic for patients in the region.
According to data from the Union Health Ministry, Jammu and Kashmir reported 51,577 cancer cases between 2019 and 2022. The annual figures show an upward trend: 12,396 cases in 2019, 12,726 cases in 2020, 13,060 cases in 2021, and 13,395 cases in 2022. Over the same period, a staggering 35,623 cancer-related deaths were recorded. In 2018 alone, 6,824 patients succumbed to cancer, and that number has steadily increased each year, with 7,396 deaths reported in 2022.
A 2012 study by SKIMS identified poor dietary practices, lifestyle choices, and the consumption of foods with high salt content as significant contributors to the rising cancer rates in the region. Despite these known risk factors, healthcare infrastructure, including essential equipment like the PET-CT scan machine, continues to struggle to meet the growing demand.
