Cuttack, June 27: The government has expressed concern over the acute shortage of qualified haematologists in the state.

Haematology is a branch of medicine that includes the study, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of blood related diseases. The hospital's clinical haematology department provides health care to patients suffering from thalassemia, haemophilia, anaemia, sickle cell, leukaemia and other blood related diseases.

"This dearth of qualified haematologists is hampering health services at the district headquarters hospitals of Balasore, Sambalpur, Kalahandi, where diseases such as thalassemia and sickle cell are widespread," a government statement, sent to Orissa High Court, read.

Odisha Rationalist Society secretary Debendra Sutar and Odia Yuva Manch president Rohan Kumar Mohanty had filed a PIL seeking the court's intervention for the grant of permission to start a superspecialty MD course in haematology at the SCB Medical College and Hospital.

Acting on it, the vacation court had issued notices to the health ministry, the Medical Council Of India (MCI) and the state government on June 4.

In an affidavit filed in response to the notice, the state government said that though the clinical haematology department of the hospital was one of the oldest in the state, "there has been an acute shortage of faculties in clinical haematology discipline in the state for opening clinical haematology department in the other two medical colleges".

"In order to tide over the problems, the government issued a no-objection certificate and the dean and the principal of the college applied to launch the course," director of the medical education and training Prakash Chandra Mohapatra declared in the affidavit.

According to the affidavit, the dean and the principal had first applied to the Union health ministry and the MCI for launch the course with two seats from the previous academic session.

However, the central government had rejected the proposal despite "a favourable report by the assessor of the MCI".

Later, the authorities again applied for the same in the current academic session and deposited Rs 3 lakh with the MCI towards inspection fees. The MCI, however, did not approve the proposal.

"The crux of the MCI's objection is about the lack of required qualification among the faculty members of the clinical haematology department. However, this statement is devoid of merit," Mohapatra said in the affidavit, while seeking the court's direction to the Union health ministry and the MCI to grant the launch of the MD course.

At present, the department has one professor, one associate professor and two assistant professors.

The MCI criterion states one for each.