DESPITE having a large population, Dasht has been facing an acute shortage of medical facilities for a long time. There is no hospital here. This forces people to travel to other parts of Balochistan or Sindh to seek medical treatment, which not all can afford.

Recently, my father died because we had no access to doctors. He suffered a stroke. It took eight hours for us to get him to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) in Karachi. By the time we reached the hospital, it was already too late.

JPMC doctors said had my father been provided emergency and immediate medical attention, he could have survived.

To make matters worse, in the absence of qualified doctors and hospitals scores of quacks have been operating in Dasht. People have no choice but to visit them because it is the only affordable option for them.

Previous governments have made false promises and never fulfilled them. The Balochistan government should grab this opportunity to serve the people of Balochistan, especially Dasht, fulfilling the promise of giving Dasht a civil hospital.

Sher Jan Shohaz
Dasht, Balochistan

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2019