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By Momina Murad
ISLAMABAD/MIRPUR KHAS, Jun 28 (APP)::In Mirpur Khas, a mother gave birth in a rickshaw. A child died from a treatable fever. A man with chest pains was turned away because the ECG machine didn’t work. These are not rare tragedies, they are daily realities in a city that has been medically abandoned.
Despite being the fourth-largest city in Sindh, home to nearly 1.8 million people, Mirpur Khas has no fully functioning public hospital equipped to handle emergencies. The lack of accessible healthcare has left the city’s residents vulnerable, forcing many to undertake 70-kilometer journeys to Hyderabad for even basic treatment—a burden that, for some, proves fatal.
Mirpur Khas stands as a symbol of what happens when public health policy ignores semi-urban and rural populations. It’s a city caught in a dangerous loop of government apathy, underfunding, and systemic neglect. While major cities like Karachi and Hyderabad continue to receive regular health infrastructure upgrades, Mirpur Khas is left with crumbling facilities, a shortage of doctors, and non-functional medical equipment.
In 2022, the city’s main public facility, Civil Hospital Mirpur Khas, shifted its emergency services from the city center to a newly built but ill-equipped block on the outskirts. The move failed to address any of the long-standing issues, lack of trained staff, outdated equipment, and poor access, merely relocating the crisis to a denser, more underserved neighborhood.
“My son had a high fever, but there was no pediatrician. The hospital told us to go to Hyderabad,” said Waseem Rajar, a local shopkeeper. “We can’t afford that trip every time. Sometimes, the delay is fatal.”
“Even for a basic blood test, they make us wait for days—or refer us to a private lab,” said Ali Nawaz Soomro, a farmer from the outskirts. “How can a poor man afford this?”
The statistics are equally damning. According to the Sindh Health Department, in 2024 alone, over 150 cases of HIV in children were reported from Mirpur Khas, more than 26% of all pediatric HIV cases in the province. Experts blame unsafe injection practices, poorly regulated clinics, and the absence of infection control protocols.
In the same year, over 35,000 malaria cases were recorded, largely driven by stagnant water, open sewage, and a lack of effective vector control. Yet, no clear government strategy has been implemented to combat these root causes.
There have been promises. In his 2025 budget speech, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah announced an 11% increase in the provincial health budget. He pledged to improve hospital services, diagnostics, and emergency response systems. But he also admitted that fiscal constraints from the federal government had stalled several key projects, further straining an already fragile system.
After a 2023 inspection, the Sindh Human Rights Commission called for urgent reforms at Civil Hospital Mirpur Khas. Recommendations included solar power systems, hiring of specialist doctors, and the creation of a Child Protection Committee. The Health Department’s Development Wing was said to be collaborating on these goals, but progress remains unclear. And without transparent implementation, even well-meaning plans risk becoming empty rhetoric.
Women, children, and the working poor are disproportionately affected. Their suffering is a reflection of a development model that values urban visibility over human vulnerability. When a child dies of a preventable illness because no doctor was available, when a patient is told to find help 70 kilometers away, the system has failed, not just them, but all of us.
To make Sindh’s healthcare system truly inclusive, the province must extend resources, personnel, and policy attention to cities like Mirpur Khas. This means more than just budget allocations; it requires qualified staff, effective regulation of private clinics, community-based outreach, and a commitment to equity.
Healthcare is not a privilege reserved for urban elites. It is a constitutional right.
And if that right continues to be denied to the people of Mirpur Khas, then all talk of reform will remain just that, talk. Until change reaches the city’s broken wards and overcrowded waiting rooms, its people will keep paying the price with their lives.