September 26, 2003	Friday	Rajab 28, 1424

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DADU, Sept 25: The people of Dadu district have complained about the shortage of medicines, basic facilities, and specialist doctors for the urology, heart, orthopaedic, child, ENT, skin and dialysis wards at the Civil Hospital Dadu.

They said that costly machinery worth Rs2 million was shifted to the Taluka Hospital Mehar from the eye ward of the Civil Hospital Dadu and junior doctors were appointed on high administrative posts of the hospital, including the post of the civil surgeon, as a result of which the administration of the hospital had totally collapsed.

They demanded immediate appointment of specialist doctors and removal of junior doctors from administrative posts.

The majority of doctors have not been transferred ever since they were appointed.

The quarters and bungalows of the employees of the Civil Hospital Dadu and the wards of the hospitals are in the worst condition and they were not being repaired properly.

An OPD doctor, Dr Taufiq Memon said that he was attending 100 to 120 patients daily.

He said that only three doctors were posted at the main OPD, and added that the OPD was facing a shortage of doctors.

CITIZENS ACTION COMMITTEE: The chairman, Citizens Action Committee, Javed Akhtar Ghaloo, complained that he had admitted his 32-year-old sister, Yasmeen Ghaloo, at the hospital but the doctors there had not provided proper treatment and they never informed him about the disease she was suffering from even though she had stayed one and a half months at the hospital.

He claimed that since his sister was not treated properly she had started suffering from cancer, and added that he took her to Hyderabad where she had died 15 days back.

He said that the staff of the Civil Hospital Dadu was not providing medicines to the patients but was only providing them to influential people of the area.

Mr Javed said that the staff of the hospital was misappropriating money from Zakat funds.

He said that in the Zakat records for poor patients, the health staff showed the number of patients as 1,000 but they had purchased medicines for only 500 and had misappropriated the rest.

SOCIAL WORKER: A social worker, Qaim Ali Siyal, complained that a child specialist, Dr Ismail Lashari, and an eye specialist, Dr Gulzar Shaikh, were not performing their duties in the hospital during office hours and asking patients to visit their private clinics and purchase medicines from the medical stores of their choice.

He alleged that a junior doctor, Javed Ahmed Dawach, had been posted as the civil surgeon, while senior doctors were being deprived of their rights, and added that one of them, Dr Ghulam Rasool Lashari, who was the senior-most throughout the district was performing his duty as the additional civil surgeon of the Civil Hospital Dadu.

COUNCILLOR: Councillor Javed Ahmed Solangi complained that the Civil Hospital Dadu was functioning without specialist doctors of urology, heart, orthopaedic, child, ENT and skin.

He said that previously some specialist doctors were posted here but the corrupt and inefficient administrative staff of the hospital had got them transferred to other hospitals of Sindh.

EYE SPECIALIST: Eye Specialist Dr Gulzar Ahmed Shaikh said that he attended the OPD two days a week and conducted operations on two other days.

He said that he did not ask patients to purchase medicines from certain medical stores only.

FORMER EDO: Former EDO (health) Dr Khadim Hussain Lakhair said that he had received a lot of complaints against the civil surgeon of the Civil Hospital and administrative officers and he had sent reports against them to the secretary, health; the director general, health; the district Nazim, Dadu, and the DCO, Dadu, for taking stern action against them.

He said that, however, no action was taken against them but he, himself, was transferred.

DISTRICT NAZIM: The district Nazim, Dadu, Sardar Malik Asad Sikandar, told this correspondent that the government should take serious notice of all the irregularities and inquire as to why junior and inefficient officers of the health department were posted in his district.