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PESHAWAR, Jan 27 (APP):Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly,Tuesday, expressed concerns over the deteriorating state of health facilities in the remote area of Drosh in District Chitral.
Arifa Bibi, a Member of the Provincial Assembly elected from Chitral, presented a call-attention notice saying that the only government hospital in Drosh serving a population of 130,000 still does not have the Sehat Card facility, and that patients are facing severe difficulties due to an acute shortage of doctors.
According to Arifa Bibi, an average of 800 patients visit the hospital’s OPD daily, but due to inadequate facilities, most patients are referred to Peshawar. She demanded the immediate upgradation of the hospital, the provision of dialysis machines, and the permanent appointment of specialist doctors.
Responding to this, Provincial Health Minister Khaliqur Rehman informed the House that the appointment of doctors at the DHQ Hospital Lower Chitral has been completed, where all basic facilities along with the Sehat Card facility are available.
He assured that specialist doctors would be posted at Drosh Hospital on a priority basis and that work has also begun on the issuance of the Sehat Card facility there.
According to the health minister, Drosh Hospital currently falls under Category D, but additional facilities will be provided if required.
On this occasion, another elected member from Chitral, Nilofar, also informed the House that the main hospital in Chitral has only four beds for emergency cases.
She said there is a severe shortage of staff at Drosh hospital, and when patients endure a long and difficult ten-hour journey to reach Peshawar, their condition speaks for itself.
Members demanded that improving health facilities in remote areas like Chitral be given priority so that people do not have to travel hundreds of kilometers for medical treatment.