PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday asked the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Care Commission (HCC) to extend action against illegal private health facilities and human organ trade to the entire province and produce detailed reports about it.

A bench consisting of Justice Qaiser Rasheed and Justice Ahmad Ali observed that the crackdown on private health facilities, including hospitals and laboratories, were mostly confined to Peshawar, whereas rests of the divisions in the province were completely ignored.

It added that the use of used syringes by health facilities had led to the rise of infectious diseases, including HIV and hepatitis, in the province, so FIA and HCC should take notice of it.

The bench issued the order during the hearing into a petition filed by a Kohat resident, Mohammadullah Khan, against the alleged illegal kidney transplantation to his uncle, Haji Habib Khan, by a group, including some doctors, for Rs2.55 million last year.

Asks FIA, Health Care Commission to update it about action on Dec 17

Mr Haji Habib passed away two days after undergoing the surgery.

The petitioner has requested the court to direct the FIA and HCC to take legal action against all those involved in the illegal kidney transplantation and conduct a high-level inquiry against organ traders.

The bench fixed Dec 17 for the next hearing asking FIA and HCC to seal private health facilities, which have untrained staff members and carry out illegal activities.

Malik Ajmal Khan, lawyer for the petitioner, said the HCC was responsible for checking illegal and unethical activities of health facilities at the provincial level but it had become almost nonfunctional due to the resignation of four members of its board of governors.

Additional advocate general Syed Sikandar Hayat said the government had taken several steps for checking illegal and unethical activities by private facilities and that in the past, many such health facilities were sealed and fines were imposed on their owners.

The bench asked the representatives of FIA and HCC about the steps they had taken against such private hospitals and laboratories.

The officials replied that recently, two such facilities were sealed near the Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar.

Justice Qaiser Rasheed observed that their activities were mostly confined to Dagbari, a Peshawar area having private hospitals and clinics in large numbers, while other divisions in the province were completely ignored.

The bench observed that the people had opened private hospitals and operating theatres in small rented houses, which didn’t have proper facilities and lacked trained staff.

It added that in such hospitals, used syringes and unsterilised surgical equipment were used and thus, causing high incidence of infectious diseases.

The bench ordered the officers to extend their operations to Kohat, Dera Ismail Khan, Chitral and other areas.

It observed that the FIA and health-related institutions should not turn a blind eye to those illegal activities.

Malik Ajmal said Haji Habib underwent an operation at a private hospital in Peshawar before he was shifted to Rawalpindi in critical condition, where he breathed his last.

The FIA later registered an FIR and arrested some people, including a doctor, over the illegal transplantation of kidney, while several accused have been absconding.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2019