Manipur medical meltdown

Aasima Banu Sheikh *

Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Imphal in June 2021 :: Pix - Shankar Khangembam

Manipur is grappling with a grave healthcare crisis stemming from repeated infrastructural breakdowns, widespread distrust of medical institutions, normalised mob culture against the medical fraternity, and deep-rooted corruption.

Dr Somen Laishram (Gynaecologist), Senior Resident at RIMS Imphal, in one of the popular podcasts, stressed that to be a good doctor first requires to be a good human being, as the medical profession should be driven by selflessness rather than monetary gain.

Unfortunately, reality diverges sharply from this ideal. Social media is rife with uproars over the unavailability of senior doctors in Government hospitals, rumours of simultaneously practicing in private hospitals during duty hours, fuelling public frustration.

On the other side, Manipur’s pervasive mob culture that continues attacking the medical fraternity, especially following hospital fatalities, further destabilises the medical environment, which needs to be strictly dealt with.

Incidents on both sides highlight a deteriorating situation, painting a bleak picture of Manipur’s backward slide, a “question mark” on one’s nobility in its profession, and the violent backlash from the other side and which cannot be justified until our society curbs its root cause: dishonesty.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS), the State’s prime Government hospital, has repeatedly been flooded during rains; even the September 17th , flood severely disrupted essential medical services that even halted a kidney transplant. The ongoing challenges have left many residents desperate for reliable healthcare options.

The situation led to the forced evacuation of patients and the suspension of medical services. This underscores the urgent need for investment in resilient infrastructure capable of withstanding extreme weather events. This recurrent flooding leaves the hospital non-operational at critical times, jeopardizing patient care and lives.

Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences, (JNIMS) Porompat in May 2021 :: Pix - Shankar Khangembam

Meanwhile, the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), the oldest and premier Government hospital in Manipur, faces a growing public distrust ignited by allegations of negligence and mismanagement. The death of 35-year-old Chingshubam Ongbi Manju, who passed away on September 20 , due to complications following childbirth, ignited protests where Dr Ch Pritamkumar Singh, a senior consultant, was assaulted and properties vandalized.

Another case involved the death of a 50-year-old patient on the same day, Yambem Sanjoy, which further fueled criticism against hospital authorities, when they failed to provide the cause of demise after prolonged wait in grieve.

Families of deceased patients have repeatedly alleged negligence by doctors and demanded strict actions. Amidst community backlash, in response, the Teachers’ and Medical Officers’ Association (TAMOA) suspended all its services, including emergency, outpatient, and routine operations for a day, protesting against the assault on medical staffs.

Ultimately, it should be clear that neither careless doctors nor confrontational patients can be accommodated in a healthy society.

In 2023, RIMS even faced allegations of massive corruption in the recruitment of nurses. The Socialist Students’ Union of Manipur (SSUM) alleged irregularities in recruitment process of nurses. The student body also emphasized the pitiable state of affairs in Manipur, which has worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic and the current ethnic conflict, and highlighted how corruption will exacerbate the situation.

Therefore, it needs to have major interventions and calls for comprehensive institutional reforms and investigation at RIMS to address systemic issues related to both medical provider and patient safety, governance, and care quality. Private hospitals, often considered an alternative for specialised and prompt care, are inaccessible to many due to its high costs.

Next closest available option for tertiary care remains Guwahati; however, poor road infrastructure that worsens with every monsoon will rather put the patient at risks which eventually make overland travel almost impossible for patients.

The alternative of air travel to Guwahati comes at a prohibitive cost, with ticket prices equating to travel expenses to distant cities like Kolkata, making this option unrealistic for the have-nots. Unresolved ethnic crisis has led to the restriction of National Highway 27 (NH-27) for the Meitei community and Imphal airport for the Kuki community, furthering inaccessibility to health care emergencies for both of them.

State in overall , enduring a painful picture , with the medical sector being one of the most affected.

Therefore, strict interventions must be implemented immediately by the concerned authorities, and they need to provide flood-proof infrastructure at JNIMS and a thorough investigation at RIMS to restore trust, take accountability on violence against the medical fraternity, ensure participation of private hospitals in welfare schemes, and provide equitable, attentive and empathetic medical access for patients.

Without these measures on both sides, the healthcare rights for Manipur people will remain a distant dream and result in catastrophic human costs, that too, only for the poor ones.