What happened when little Zohaib got injured?

Since the creation of Pakistan till now, almost all the politicians either in power corridors or opposition keep on making lofty claims that they are committed to serve the masses and would leave no stone unturned to provide justice, relief and basic amenties to the common man at his doorstep. But, unfortunately the common man is still either running from pillar to post to get justice, earn bread and butter, or standing outside the Presidency, PM's House and  Minister's house or sitting at his home waiting for some Messiah or thinking to commit suicide or do whatever he thinks can come to his rescue. The two-year-old Zohaib, son of Zar Khan resident of Pirwadhi is lying unconscious for the third consecutive day, and fighting for his life at Shifa International Hospital. The ordeal he and his family went through is no less horrific. Narrating the story, Zohaib's uncle Haseeb Khan told this scribe Thursday that the ill-fated boy received severe head injuries after falling down from the rooftop of two-storey building last Monday night at about 10 P.M. Rescue 1122 personnel were called in who took the unconscious Zohaib to MH where doctors told them the hospital did not have CT scan facility and referred the boy to CMH Trauma Centre. The doctors on duty at CMH Trauma Centre told the same thing and advised Zohaib's family members to take him to private hospitals, which have the CT scan facility, Haseeb Khan added. Due to the serious nature of boy's injuries, he was taken to Central Government Hospital (CGH), said Haseeb Khan adding that the doctors on duty, after routinely examining the boy told them that they could not do anything as there was no CT scan facility. Haseeb Khan went on saying that when he felt that the boy was facing difficulty in breathing, he requested the doctors to provide the boy with Oxygen, the doctors flatly refused saying that they did not push the boy down to ground besides we can not waste our time on one patient, Haseeb Khan alleged. Haseeb Khan said fearing that may be PIMS too lacks CT scan facility, they brought the boy to Shifa International Hospital where he was admitted at 3.15 P.M. He said he has no words to thanks Rescuee 1122 personnel who remained with the boy for more than five hours and took the ill-fated boy from one hospital to another free of cost. Now the 2-year-old Zohaib lies unconscious, fighting for his life while his family members have no option but to seek Allah Almighty's help. It's not a story of one Zohaib. There are many Zohaibs who either lay dead or are fighting for their lives. They are not lucky like Zohaib who with the help of Rescue 1122 personnel after moving from one hospital to another for more than four hours finally was admitted and is being treated at Shifa International Hospital. All this happened in the Federal Capital. Nobody from power corridor or the opposition even bothered to raise voice against the injustice meted out to Zohaib and his family. Though Federal Minister Sherry Rehman, who also holds the Health Ministry portfolio suspended the doctor but suspension is too little a punishment in view of the fact that their negligence might have cost the boy his life.  Haseeb Khan maintained that he could not understand as to why and on which ground the minister suspended the doctors as Zohaib was not even taken to PIMS. What about the MH, CMH doctors and especially of Central Government Hospital docors who escaped disciplinary action, he questioned. Most of the doctors are receiving handsome salary from taxpayer money. Instead of performing duties in the hospital, they have their own clinics. They use different tactics to lure or compel the patients to go to private clinics instead of getting free of cost treatment at the government hospitals. Despite hundreds of thousands complaints, no action has been taken to stop these kind of illegal, rather immoral activities in this regard. Suspension would not serve the purpose as after some time, these persons would be back on duty to mint money, besides misbehaving with the patients. Patients are being insulted, ignored and forced to pay heavy fees to doctors just to save the life of their loved ones. Politicians be they  in power or in opposition make tall claims and promises all the time that they are committed to serve and protect the lives of the citizens, leaving no stone unturned to provide justice to the common man at his doorstep. But things are upside down. There are hundreds of thousands Zohaibs who are undergoing such hard time and are asking the rulers and politicians how many people have to die to get their attention. Those who are sitting at the helm of affairs have to do more than just a lip service to protect the lives of the people and provide justice and basic ammenties to common man otherwise the  time is not far away when the rulers won't find any place to escape from common man's accountability. The people are quite aware of their fundamental rights. It is time for all concerned to see the writing on the wall.

ePaper - Nawaiwaqt