Shillong, Feb 28 : As Meghalaya battles to tackle the outbreak of meningitis that has claimed over 180 lives in the past one year, Chief Minister Donkupar Roy said the crisis of doctors has led to the poor health infrastructure in rural areas.
Most of the case of meningitis have been reported from rural Meghalaya.
"The huge crisis of doctors is due to their unwillingness to go to work in rural areas. As a result, people there are not getting the required health services from the health centres," Roy said while inaugurating the two-day 26th Scientific Conference cum General Body Meeting of Meghalaya Medical Services Association (MMSA) here on Friday.
According to him, around 34 to 35 students from the state go for training in various medical colleges across the country every year.
"But it does not help to improve the health sector in Meghalaya because majority of them are not willing to come back and work in the State as they prefer to work in private hospitals," Roy said.
Blaming the poor rural health care in the state on medical students who, refuse to work at community health centres and primary health centres, the Chief Minister said this has forced state government to enter into partnership with NGOs to improve health care facilities.
He further said that the non-functional health centres in rural areas had caused a lot of inconvenience to patients, forcing them to come to Shillong for better treatment.
The non-functioning health centres have also led to the problem of overcrowding in various hospitals in the city, especially in government hospitals, Roy said.
The Chief Minister's remarks come in the backdrop of the government scurrying to cope with the outbreak of meningitis.