Ventilator shortfall exposes Indian apathy towards Kashmiri lives
Srinagar: Critical care in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir is collapsing under acute ventilator shortage, exposing the Indian regime’s apathy towards the sufferings of Kashmiri people.
According to Kashmir Media Service, despite decades of need, the number of functional ventilators remains far below required capacity in major hospitals. Patients who could survive with proper life support are being left without access as the available system falls severely short.
Specialty hospitals like Soura hospital, SMHS Hospital, and Super Specialty Hospital heavily rely on ventilators for trauma, post-surgical recovery, respiratory failure, cardiac events, and neurosurgeries, yet the gap is stark.
Public Health Standards mandate 5 to 10 percent ICU beds of total hospital capacity, with roughly one ventilator per ICU bed plus 10 to 20 percent reserves. At Soura hospital, with 1050 beds, at least 50 to 100 functional ventilators must be available, but only 40 are working. A 2025 RTI revealed Pediatrics and Neonatology requires 20 ventilators while only 10 are functional.
CVTS faces a shortfall of 12, with similar gaps in Neuro ICU, Cancer Care ICU, and Critical Care Units.
The crisis is worsened by chronic staffing shortages.
