Waziristan health centres in dire need of medicines, equipment

PESHAWAR, April 2: The growing number of medical emergencies and severe shortage of medicines, besides financial woes of the government, have adversely affected provision of free medical supplies to people in volatile North Waziristan Agency, health professionals say. The officials said that Fata Health Directorate had provided medical supplies including life saving drugs worth Rs5.6 million to 94 main hospitals and health centres in the agency during current financial year, which was insufficient to cater to the needs of the hospitals. They said that 200-bed agency headquarters hospital in Miramshah had received medical supplies worth Rs2.4 million, while the remaining 93 health facilities in the area had been given medicines to the value of Rs3.2 million. A senior official said that the quantity of medicines as per quota had fallen short and the healthcare facilities needed additional stock to cope with the war-like situation in the region. He said that the office of the agency surgeon needed Rs70 million for purchase of medical supplies including equipment for health units in the agency. He said that the issue had been taken up with senior officials in Fata Civil Secretariat, but the authorities did not give a positive response. "North Waziristan is in a state of emergency because of the drone attacks and militancy. People can't shift patients to hospitals outside the agency because of an unrelenting curfew; therefore the government should properly equip hospitals in the region," he said. "Even Paracetmol tablets are not available in dispensaries and rural health centres," he said. He added political administration was making commitments to provide funds for medicines and equipment, but the promise had not been materialised do far. The officials said that indoor patients at main hospitals in Miramshah, Mirali and Razmak were entitled to get free medicines, but local authorities hardly fulfilled their requirements because of shortage of life saving drugs. The hospitals in North Waziristan are not only catering to the requirements of local population but also provide treatment to the people coming from the border areas of Afghanistan. According to the official statistics, over 10,000 outdoor patients are getting treatment at the main hospital in Miramshah per month. A doctor told this correspondent by telephone from Miramshah that the main hospital needed new operation tables, headlights and other necessary equipment for the major operation theater of the hospital. "Headlights in the operation theater are not working properly," he complained. He said that cardiology unit had been set up in the hospital about two years ago, but cardiologist and staff had not been provided so far to operate the unit. Similarly, he said, the operation theater in the gynaecology ward was also in bad condition and it needed immediate renovation. Assistant director (admn) Mohammad Niaz, when approached, said that he was unaware of the shortage of medicines in the public sector hospital in North Waziristan. He said that the directorate did not receive any formal request from the agency surgeon, who was overall in-charge of health sector in the area. "We could have asked other organisations to provide humanitarian assistance to the ailing humanity in the agency, but we have not received any complaints in this regard," he added.