KARACHI, April 3: Because Sindh was the only province in the country which didn’t have a children’s hospital of its own, in late 1996 work was started on the construction of a 150-bed facility in Karachi.
About seven years on, the city does have the facility mentioned — completed at a cost of Rs24 million in 1998 — but its children cannot utilize the same because it doesn’t have the amount needed to run it!
Today the hospital’s building — called the “Children’s Hospital, North Karachi” — stands as a testimony to mismanagement as well as apathy on the part of authorities.
If the hospital is made operational anytime soon it could, in conjunction with the federal government’s National Institute of Child Health, endeavour to meet all the health care needs of Karachi’s children.
On Wednesday Dawn visited the non-operational hospital building, situated near Nagan Chowrangi in North Karachi. Even after the passage of five years since its completion, from afar the building’s beige-and-white exterior was pleasant to the eye.
Upon closer examination, however, Dawn found that all’s not well. Paint is peeling off at places and many window and door panes are broken.
It was obvious that if it was not pressed into service soon, the building could fall into disrepair. The watchman on duty told this reporter that several ministers had visited the site in recent weeks.
“They came with senior officials in tow,” said the bearded old man. “They had maps which they pasted on the notice-board there and discussed. They took away their maps after they had discussed.”
In response to a question, he said: “It is my prayer and wish that this hospital starts functioning soon. That will be good for the city’s people”.
Showing Dawn around the remarkable facility, the old man with a bent back said there were at least 50 rooms in it. On special request, he unlocked a couple of operation theatres which were largely intact.
The building has four spacious halls, one at each of its four corners. The interior is tastefully designed and has cream-and-grey walls.
Due to the old man’s honesty, most of the tubelights and fans are in place. How much longer will they be there, nobody knows.
Meanwhile, the revised PC1 of the project has it that the said building will be housing the following departments: outpatient department; 150 beds for admitted patients; operation theatres; emergency ward; X-Ray and ultrasound department; blood bank and pathological laboratories; pharmacy; and, nursery for children.
According to the document, the total cost of the project will be Rs51 million out of which Rs24 million has already been spent. The PC1 envisages that every day 2,000 children will be visiting the facility, also known as Karachi Children’s Hospital.
A source said the hospital’s equipment, bought at a cost of Rs20 million, are lying in the health department’s stores near the Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases. The recurring expenses of the hospital were expected to be about Rs10 million per year, he said.
“Isn’t it ironic that because the authorities cannot or do not wish to generate a few million rupees, a project costing more than Rs50 million is going to waste.”
Punjab had a 1000-bed children’s hospital, he pointed out. “The NWFP and Balochistan each have a 125-bedded children’s hospital. It’s almost always the province of Sindh which lags behind in terms of the development projects satisfactorily completed.
KARACHI, April 3: Because Sindh was the only province in the country which didn’t have a children’s hospital of its own, in late 1996 work was started on the construction of a 150-bed facility in Karachi.
