The United Sangtam Students’ Conference (USSC) has appealed Nagaland’s health and family welfare department to deploy adequate medical staff in Kiphire stating that the shortage of doctors, nurses and other staff has adversely affected healthcare services and patient care in the district.

USSC highlighted that the department had been transferring its staff to other districts without assigning replacements or relievers. The conference also expressed its disappointment that despite several appeals, the department continued to disregard and neglect the issue.

It cited that due to the poor healthcare system, the general public are forced to seek medical care outside the district “which puts the patients’ lives at risk and causes them to endure untold hardship.”

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USSC mentioned that the District Hospital Kiphire (DHK) has been functioning without a Medical Superintendent (MS) for a couple of months. Besides shortage of general doctors, the hospital has never had an ophthalmologist (eye specialist) or a radiologist. DHK has also been operating without an X-Ray technician for ‘decades’, the conference stated.

Further, the Sangtam students’ union mentioned that Seyochung Town Community Health Centre (CHC), Sitimi Town Primary Health Centre, Amahator Town PHC Chare Town PHC (Under Tuensang) have been operating without a single doctor ‘since 2022’. It also added that Longkhim Town CHC (Under Tuensang) is facing shortage of nurses.

USSC therefore urged the department to look into the matter as high priority and assign medical staff to the hospital and health centres in the area.