PESHAWAR, Oct 19: The NWFP government has allocated Rs15 million for treatment of people injured in October 8 quake. “The amount has been released by the finance department which would be given to hospitals on the basis of the number of patients they receive from the quack-affected areas,” said NWFP Health Minister Inayatullah Khan.
The Oct 8 quake has left more than 13,000 people injured in the province, forcing the health department to take specific measures to treat victims.
In Peshawar, the Lady Reading Hospital has received 250 patients followed by the Khyber Teaching Hospital and Hayatabad Medical Complex with 50 victims each.
Owing to lack of resources, hospitals in the city are unable to provide free medical facilities to the wounded.
“We are treating patients from our own resources. The government has stopped supplying free ration for patients long ago, but we are providing them with food,” said the chief executive of one of the hospitals.
He said that relatives and attendants of patients, who lost everything in the quake, also needed food and other material assistance. “But, we can provide food only to patients,” he added.
Anum Gul, a resident of the quake-hit Balakot who is looking after his bed-ridden wife at the Lady Reading Hospital, said: “I am fasting on one bread which I received from a woman in the ward. The hospital provides just one bread and food to my injured wife.”
Patients at hospitals in Abbottabad and Mansehra have also been facing similar problems.
According to a health official, the wounded need blood transfusion, life-saving drugs, drips, pain-killers, disposable surgical items and antibiotics besides good food.
“Ayub Medical Complex, Abbottabad, which has been providing treatment facilities to more than 1,000 wounded people has received only Rs1 million from the governor,” said a source associated with relief efforts.
The situation in the district headquarters hospital, Mansehra, is not different. Thousands of the quake victims have been admitted there.
A health official said that patients needed at least three X-rays for which films were provided by the relief organizations.
“Moreover,” he pointed out, “technicians at hospitals have no protection against rays, which can be harmful to their health.”
In Balakot and beyond Mansehra, the government does not have any health facility and the wounded are dependent on the medical aid provided to them by relief workers.
“We need resources to treat survivors. At present, patients are lying at every place in Abbottabad and Mansehra hospitals. There is no space. Corridors, waiting rooms, OPDs and wards are overflowing with patients,” said an Abbottabad-based doctor.
Another doctor said the government had provided drugs to hospitals in the affected areas, but added that more supplies and trained personnel were needed to cope with the situation.
