Umang Singhar’s allegation “Madhya Pradesh’s health system is on ventilator”, questions raised on lack of microbiology lab in district hospitals

Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar has attacked the BJP government regarding the health system of Madhya Pradesh. He alleged that the health services of the state are in serious crisis and the government is only busy in publicity instead of strengthening the health facilities.

The Congress leader said that trained MD microbiologists are not available in any district hospital of the state and most of the hospitals lack microbiology labs. Despite this, patients are being given reserve grade antibiotics without scientific investigation. He says that due to this the effect of antibiotics is reducing and antimicrobial resistance is increasing rapidly in patients.

Umang Singhar cornered the government regarding health facilities

Raising questions on the health system of the state, Umang Singhar has said that the BJP government has put the health services of the entire state “on ventilators”. He alleged that microbiology lab and specialist doctors are not available in any district hospital, yet reserve grade antibiotics are being given to patients without testing due to which antibiotic resistance is increasing rapidly. The Leader of Opposition alleged that the report in this regard was kept suppressed for three years. He asked, “After all, whose failure was being hidden? Is it more important for the BJP government to save its image than the lives of the people?” He also targeted the Chief Minister and said that there are no doctors, no specialists, no necessary facilities in the hospitals of the state and your government is only busy in publicity. He questioned who would take responsibility for this poor health system.

what is the matter

A study conducted by the Quality Assurance Unit of National Health Mission (NHM) Madhya Pradesh assessed the status of antibiotic use in government and private hospitals. Under this study, 864 patients from two government and eight private hospitals were surveyed. The study revealed that there are no trained MD microbiologists in any district hospital of the state. Limited level microbiology labs are operating in only two districts, where MD Pathology or MSc Microbiology experts are conducting the tests. Due to lack of specialist labs, doctors in many cases are prescribing antibiotics based on the symptoms and experience of the patients. This is also leading to increased use of antibiotics used as reserve and last resort, due to which antimicrobial resistance is expected to increase.