Arthur Neve (1859-1919) and a Mission Hospital in Srinagar, Kashmir

Mark Harrison has said that hospitals occupy a central place within health-care systems, not only on account of their curative functions but also as centres of teaching and research. The indigenous system of medicine practised by Hakims in Kashmir is the Unani. The Mission Hospital in Srinagar, Kashmir became the most important hospital attracting patients, not only within Kashmir but also in the surrounding countries and not only because of the curative facilities provided at the hospital but also because of the humane approach of its physicians, outstanding among them being Arthur Neve. The patients represented every class of society. Patients come from villages scattered throughout Kashmir and the Plains of India, and a few from Tibet, Afghanistan, Yarkand and Khostan. According to Neve, in 1912 there were 23,642 new outpatients and 1979 inpatients. Physical, socio-cultural and political conditions hinder access to the Mission Hospital. Neve's younger brother Ernest F Neve (1861-1946) made significant contributions when an earthquake struck and during cholera outbreaks in Kashmir at the end of the 19th century.