KARACHI, Jan 4: The Sindh health department will need about Rs120 million for the refurbishment of various government-run health facilities, hospitals and health offices set ablaze, looted or ransacked recently across the province under the cover of protests over PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, said sources in the department.

The department was provided on Thursday with information about the damages or losses caused to public sector healthcare facilities in 19 districts of the province.

A report received from the director-general of health services, Sindh, had no estimates about damages caused to facilities in the other seven districts. “Perhaps basing on informal reports, the DG has forwarded to the department details of buildings and equipment and vehicles torched or destroyed by hooligans, without financial evaluations,” said an official, adding that that could be due to the absence of communication with the offices concerned.

Provincial health minister Fauzia A. Lari told Dawn the details of the damages and destruction would be placed before the provincial cabinet as well so that the federal government could be requested for a special allocation of funds for the restoration and refurbishment of the health facilities on a priority basis.

Answering a question, she said the Sindh health department would not base only on the first report of losses, but would also constitute a team of officials to survey the affected facilities, confirm the reported damages and recommend measures to overcome new challenges.

The DG said in his report said that damages of Rs27 million had been caused to the office and properties of the director-general of health services in Hyderabad, which also housed the TB Control Programme and the Malaria Control Programme.

At the DG health complex, two offices were completely burnt, 16 vehicles were burnt or damaged and 30 computers with all accessories were taken away. Besides, refrigerators, typewriters, photocopiers, medicines and vaccines were also stolen or destroyed.

At the Services Hospital, Hyderabad, three ambulances were completely burnt. The loss has been estimated at Rs3.2 million.

Another big damage, evaluated at Rs21 million, was done in Tando Mohammad Khan. The main store of the EDO health, a rural health centre, three basic health units, a store of the malaria control programme, EPI district store and two ambulances of a healthcare centre were damaged.

In Khairpur district, the cost of damages has been estimated at Rs14.4 million. Buildings of a number of rural health centres and basic health units and mother/child health centres, along with furniture, records, lab materials, ambulances and relevant vehicles, instruments/equipment and furniture of BHUs and RHCs and residential buildings of medical staff were destroyed.

Damage to MCH centre, including equipment, furniture, machinery, burning of a medical officer bungalow and partial damage to an ambulance have been reported from Tando Allahyar.

Badin district suffered a loss of 11 vehicles, damages to the EDO health office, an RHU and a BHU, while three ambulances, five pickups and the taluka hospital of Rohri were destroyed in Sukkur district.

From the remaining districts, including Umerkot, Jacobabad, Mirpurkhas, Naushehro Feroze, Thatta, Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Kamber, Larkana and Shikarpur, damages or loss to various rural health centres, basics health units, EDO offices, vehicles, ambulances, hospitals, residential blocks, equipment and stores have also been reported.

Health officials considered the losses as the worst blow to the available health sector infrastructure and operational facilities, which were already faced with a shortage of trained manpower, doctors, administrative staff and diagnostic equipment and medicines.

While the estimate of losses in terms of money in cases of some districts is yet to be completed, the DG has calculated a loss of Rs88 million so far, an official said, adding that damages in the remaining districts were likely to be worth Rs30 million.