DERA GHAZI KHAN

The “corrupt” management of the Basic Health Unit (BHU) in Mana Ahmadani Town has been making money by selling the BHU’s medicines while over 20,000 people of the area are deprived of healthcare.
Local people said that a couple of days ago, an unidentified official was trying to shift the hospital medicines in a bag to unknown place. As some students of a nearby Government Higher Secondary School saw him carrying the bag, the person left the medicines on the ground and escaped, they said.
Later, the school administration informed the hospital administration and the medicines were taken to the hospital, the people said.
When contacted, BHU Woman Medical Officer Aqsa Aleem confirmed the incident, and said that last Friday night, an unknown thief broke the lock of the medicine store and tried to steal the medicines.
On a question, she admitted that it was theft of only medicines because all other things were safe and present in the storeroom. She also admitted that no FIR has been registered with local police station.
Punjab Rural Support Programme (PRSP) Executive Monitoring Officer Abid Ali said that the medicine stock was not property of PRSP. However, he said, the PRSP will inquire into the matter.
District Officer Health Gull Hassan Shah said that he had just joined the office five days ago so he could not comment on the issue.
The officers claimed that the hospital was providing free and speedy health services to patients but ground realities are different. The hospital building is in dilapidated condition, windows and doors are broken. Only two rooms and one hall is in use while all the remaining rooms are not usable.
It also lacks facilities like sanitation system, toilets, water, lab, labour room, delivery kits, oxygen cylinders and medicines. A 28-year-old female patient namely Sakina Bibi said there was no waiting room for attendants. Most of women complained that the behaviour of female medical officer was not appropriate. They also said that the WMO /LHVs force them to visit their private clinics for check-up and treatment.
On the other side, untrained male and female quacks and LHVs are looting patients in the name of health services. It was normal practice in the private clinics of using syringes and surgical equipments repeatedly on different patients. There is no proper hospital waste management system, thereby causing the spread of more diseases among patients.