SHILLONG, Dec 2: The state government has taken a serious approach to revamp Meghalaya’s health sector after the COVID-19 crisis, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said on Friday.
In his address after inaugurating the General Nursing and Midwifery School, at Pahamsyiem, Nongpoh, the chief minister said that the government has been investing in the health sector to ensure better health facilities in the state.
Recalling how Meghalaya faced scores of challenges in the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Conrad said that to overcome similar situations in the future, the state government has taken the initiative to overhaul the health infrastructure and ensure better services.
“As a government, we have been spending a lot in terms of our health sector. In the nation as a whole, we are most probably the fourth highest in terms of the percentage of GDP that is spent on the health sector. We put a lot of focus on the health sector and that has only increased after the COVID-19,” he said.
He also informed the gathering that a number of sub-centres and primary health centres (PHCs) are being upgraded in addition to establishment of new healthcare facilities in the rural areas of the state.
“We have all realised how much the health sector requires whether in terms of the infrastructure, manpower or even technology. Hence, there is a huge need for investment in the health sector and that means everything from putting up more PHCs and sub-centres and ensuring enough trained manpower to ensure that we are able to give proper services to our people,” he said.
Conrad argued that Meghalaya is not densely populated but geographically isolated as there are more than 6,500 villages in the state that call for establishment of more government healthcare, educational and other facilities.
“Even though we are a small state, we face challenges because of the fact that we are very spread out and we have a population that is living in different corners. Hence, that challenge requires us to ensure that apart from the infrastructures, we require more manpower to be able to provide the services that other states may be able to provide at a much easier level or with a much lesser number,” he said.
The chief minister also added that the government has taken the initiative to recruit more trained personnel in order to address the shortage of manpower in healthcare facilities.
