Amid a surge in the new CoVID variant, the government has assigned the charge of Director Health Services Jammu to the Director-General Family Welfare, Maternal and Child Health and Immunization, Dr Saleem ur Rehman.
Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday recorded 139 fresh Covid cases, taking the number of infected persons to 341167 while one person died due to the virus in the last 24 hours, officials said.
“In the interest of administration, it is hereby ordered that Dr Saleem ur Rehman, shall look after the charge of the post of Director Health Services, Jammu on the superannuation/retirement of Dr Renu Sharma on December 31 till further orders in addition to his own duties,” reads an order issued by additional chief secretary, Health and Medical Education department, Vivek Bharadwaj.
Officials sources said Dr Saleem ur Rehman was assigned the charge of Director Health Jammu in view of rising CoVID cases in the region.
“Government doesn’t want to see any healthcare crisis in Jammu again as it did during the second wave. So Dr Saleem’s appointment is really crucial in that context,” they said.
Dr Saleem ur Rehman is well known for playing a pivotal role in improving healthcare indicators in Kashmir by streamlining the healthcare facilities and augmenting infrastructure across Kashmir.
He established a state-of-art Simulation centre at Dobhiwan Tangmarg and pioneered the idea of establishing Emergency Rooms in all health centres down to the primary level.
His idea of imparting Basic Life Support and Advanced Life Support training at Simulation Centre Dobhiwan to people from all walks have prevented many deaths in accidents.
He pioneered the idea of the Save Heart Initiative – an online platform to treat heart attack patients before shifting them to tertiary care hospitals. Thousands of heart attack patients have been saved by the cardiologists associated with the Save Heart Initiative.
Kashmir achieved the lowest infant mortality rate in India during his tenure as the region’s Director of Health Services. (KDC)
