Parvaz wani cni
Anantnag, , cni: In what can only be described as a stark case of medical apathy, the dermatology department at Government Medical College (GMC) Anantnag has become a picture of neglect, with only one dermatologist attending to hundreds of patients each day, all while basic infrastructure such as cooling facilities remains absent.

Hundreds of patients, many of them elderly and children, can be seen waiting for hours outside the dermatology ward under the scorching summer heat. With no fans or air cooling systems inside the waiting area, patients are being left with no option but to use their own paper files and prescription covers to fan themselves in an attempt to get some relief.

“This is a government hospital, not a refugee camp. Why is there no ventilation, no fan, not even a single cooler? We are humans, not animals,” said a visibly agitated patient from Dooru, who had arrived early in the morning and was still waiting to be seen at noon.

Attendants and patients told the news agency Kashmir News Trust that, the situation is the same every day. “Only one dermatologist is posted here. Hundreds of patients visit daily, especially in summer when skin issues rise. The doctor tries his best, but how can one person manage so many cases?” they said, adding that the system is clearly overwhelmed and in desperate need of immediate intervention.

A walk through the waiting area paints a grim picture: suffocated spaces packed with anxious patients, many sitting on the floor, women shielding their infants from the heat with dupattas, and people dabbing their sweat-soaked faces with files.
Healthcare workers at the hospital, requesting anonymity, admitted that the situation in the dermatology department has remained unchanged for years. “There is a huge mismatch between the patient load and staff strength. This department has not been upgraded in line with the increasing patients and rising number of skin-related cases,” one staff member said.

Patients have called upon the Jammu and Kashmir Health Minister to take urgent measures. “At the very least, the government should ensure that more doctors are deputed and fans or air conditioning units are installed. This is about human dignity.”

As Kashmir continues to reel under rising temperatures, such scenes in a tertiary healthcare institution underscore the growing crisis in the region’s public health infrastructure, where not just treatment, but basic comfort too, seems to be a distant dream. [Cni]