Healthcare woes in remote areas
Healthcare woes in remote areas
Editorial
Editorial

Healthcare is one of the most critical issues of Balochistan. Hundreds of people perish every month of diseases that are otherwise curable.

Healthcare is one of the most critical issues of Balochistan. Hundreds of people perish every month of diseases that are otherwise curable.

Hence, these curable diseases, left untreated by the health authorities are causing many to lose the battle of their lives. Moreover, careless treatment or either inefficiency of health professionals are also adding to this ugly trend.

According to a news piece published in the columns of this newspaper a lady doctor on Monday ripped apart the head and body of a baby during obstetric hours in Muslim Bagh, on Wednesday, leaving body inside the mother’s womb while head in her hands.

The body, however, was later removed through surgical intervention in Quetta’s Civil Hospital. The father of the baby claimed that administration of the Civil Hospital Quetta refused to give him medical report in a bid to save their colleague. The entire province, half of Pakistan, has only six major hospitals, all located in Quetta.

Neither of them have adequate facilities to treat trauma patients or the seriously ill. A single visit to Provincial Sandeman Hospital, commonly known as Civil Hospital, and Bolan Medical College Teaching Hospital (BMC), is enough to confirm the sorry state of healthcare in Balochistan.

As with so many things in the province, the people suffer while their rulers are asleep on the job. Every year Civil Hospital and BMC each receive one billion rupees in funding.

And yet there is hardly a decent X-ray machine to be found and good hospital beds, well-equipped operating theaters and hygienic conditions remain scarce. The negligence and incompetence of the leadership of the province with regard to these very serious issues is causing people to become more cynical with each passing day.

However, there are hundreds of hospitals and clinics in private sector and doctors of the Government hospitals are reportedly giving more importance to their private business and they fail to serve the ailing humanity during the crises, even when a suicide attack that occurred in civil hospital, apart from a lady doctor,

dearth of health service providers was lamented by many. Most of the doctors and the technical staff reportedly fled following the blast allowing the patients die owing to excessive bleeding and non-availability of first aid. Doctors serving elsewhere and they rushed to hospital and restore some service to the injured.

That was why the seriously injured people were shifted to other hospital though there were extremely critical conditions. There is an urgent need that the health facilities and services should be dispersed as early as possible to serve the people of all the regions without any discrimination.

We have suggested major teaching hospitals in Divisional Headquarters and giving priority to those teaching Hospitals where the Government is establishing Medical Colleges—particularly in Khuzdar, Turbat and Loralai covering Central, Western and Northern Parts of Balochistan.

It is also important to build bigger hospitals in Sibi and Dera Murad Jamali covering Eastern parts of Balochistan. There should be parallel facilities in those major hospitals so that the people should not travel to Quetta for minor investigations or treatment of minor diseases.

The Provincial Government should revise its priority and divert the equitable funds to all the four climatic and administrative regions for providing better healthcare facilities to the people. The Government should advice the international donors and friendly countries to beef up health services in rest of Balochistan other than Quetta.

No new hospitals should be established here. However, the services in the existing hospitals should be improved to a level that the patients should not visit private clinics and hospitals at their own.

The Government should meet the needs of all patients visiting the Government hospitals by wiping out corrupt practices, stealing of medicine and above all efficient uses of equipment available in the Hospitals in Quetta.