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| October 1, 2007 | Monday | Ramazan 18, 1428 |
KARACHI : Bin Qasim maternity home handled no case in 20 years
By Faiza Ilyas
KARACHI, Sept 30: No delivery has ever taken place in the sole government-run
maternity home in Bin Qasim Town since its inauguration two decades ago. With a population of 315,684 people, the town has no government hospital either and people have to travel long distances to reach public health facilities in the city. This arduous journey at times risks their life.
The town’s only public sector maternity home being run in Union Council Ghaggar has been without water, electricity and gas for years. The poor expecting mothers have to rely on unskilled dais (traditional birth attendants) at the time of delivery. In case of complications, they have to rush to government hospitals in the city.
“There have been incidents in the past when women died on their way to a hospital. Besides, a pickup charges Rs1,200 for a trip to the city which poor people simply can’t afford. This health facility never worked like a maternity home and no delivery has ever taken place here. The issue has been brought to the notice of government officials many times but to no avail,” said Mohammad Khan Kalmati, a social worker of the area.
According to him, Union Council Ghaggar where the maternity home is located has 70 small villages with a total population of around 40,000 Baloch and Sindhi people. Majority of the people have been living here for ages while others are nomads. The predominant profession is factory labour.
Sharing his views, the maternity home’s in charge, Dr Shaheen K. Shaikh, says: “Without electricity and water, it’s no wonder that no delivery ever took place here. We feel bad about not serving the basic purpose of this facility which is supposed to run 24/7,” she says.
She recalls that the maternity home has functioned without any doctor many times in the past while there were times when she sat alone in the maternity home without anyone for her assistance. Now the staff comprises a doctor, midwife and lady health visitor though they all leave by 2pm.
Daily visited by 50 women, the health facility has no water connection. A water tank that exists on its premises has not been cleaned for long and visitors avoid drinking that water. Women generally visit the facility for common complaints like gastric problems, flu and iron deficiencies, for which they are given medicines free of cost.
“There is no emergency aid available there nor any facility to deal with neonatal and post natal complications. The health set-up does not serve any purpose other than a dispensary. With low literacy level and lack of awareness, women look at pregnancy as a routine matter and do not seek medical advice for the purpose even if they are told to do so,” she observes. She cites abject poverty and lack of husbands’ support as the two major factors for the delay in seeking medical help which often lead to complications.
For investigation, women are referred to Gharo Rural Health Centre or Makli District Hospital. Tuberculosis, according to her, is quite common especially among the residents of Mayyo village where two to four people in a family are suffering from the disease on an average. Skin infection is also common due to exposure to chemicals and toxic fumes in factories, she adds.
Regarding the socio-economic conditions of area people, midwife Razia Begum says the drug menace has deteriorated their financial and health status further.
“Now even small children have taken to drugs. Women do embroidery and sell eggs to meet their daily expenses. Acute economic stress has a direct bearing on the children’s development and they don’t seem like growing with age,” she adds. Area residents complain that the absence of any fully-fledged hospital in the town has given impetus to the business of quacks and faith healers. “Quacks take rounds of villages on bikes and sell cheap medicines and injections for quick relief. There is no check on their activities,” they disclose.
They also criticize the staff posted at the nearby basic health unit where they take their children for immunization. Patients generally don’t get proper medicines and at times there is no doctor, they claim while citing the reasons for lesser number of visits.
When asked about the improvement plans for existing health facilities, Town Health Officer Irshad Khan said he had written letters to the Executive District Officer Health and Karachi Nazim about the matter, but unfortunately no action had been taken so far.
“We are aware of the inconvenience being caused to the people and that’s the reason a new maternity home has been constructed in Razzakabad that will be made functional in a month or so. It will be equipped to carry out normal deliveries as well as operations in complicated cases. The feasibility of a 100-bed hospital on the National Highway has also been approved,” he said.
There were 40 health facilities, including 27 district council dispensaries, 13 BHUs and 12 Sindh government dispensaries in Bin Qasim, he said, admitting that there was no hospital in the town.
“These infrastructures have fallen victim to official neglect and the system of up-gradation is slow. As a temporary arrangement for the maternity home in Ghaggar UC, we had taken power lines from the neighbouring areas, but the cables were either cut or stolen,” he regretted.
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