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PHC Vilgam allegedly refuses to treat elderly woman in absence of COVID report

An old man alleged that doctors at Primary Health Center (PHC) refused to treat his ailing wife because they didn’t have a COVID-19 test report. They were forced to return home without any treatment. He belongs to Pazipora Vilgam area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.

A video of him shouting at health centre staff has gone viral over the internet. In video, he is carrying his wife with a foot ailment on his back. He says that they didn’t even put her on a drip. Doctors are asking for a COVID-19 test before any treatment. He says that her condition was critical and time spent in getting tested and waiting for results could have been fatal.

He carried his wife on his back for 7 kilometres from his home in Pazipora to the Vilgam health facility. He lost his cool when even after this hard work doctors denied treating his wife. Some reports mention that his wife had developed severe pain in her foot after which he carried her to the Vilgam facility.

Dr Ghulam Raheem, Block Medical Officer of Vilgam refused to accept that the woman was denied treatment. He said that they were asked to produce a COVID-negative report which the couple refused.

On-duty staff in hospital asked them to get Rapid Antigen Test before she could be admitted in the hospital. He said that they ask patients to get tested for COVID-19 before any treatment due to surge in covid cases.

Deputy Commissioner of Kupwara, Imam Din assured that if on-duty staff is found guilty then they will be punished.