CHITRAL: Upper Chitral lacks district headquarters hospital and proper secondary healthcare facilities even three years after getting the status of district.

Tehreek-Huqooq Upper Chitral leader Parvez Laal said they were expecting that a modern DHQ hospital would be established soon after bifurcation of erstwhile Chitral district, but all their hopes were dashed.

He said that the existing THQ hospital in Booni, the district headquarters, had been facing shortage of doctors and basic facilities and the patients were referred to Lower Chitral DHQ hospital as usual.

The situation is even worse in the adjoining valleys of Mulkhow, Torkhow, Terich, Laspur, Yarkhun and Oveer,” he said, adding that incidence of diseases increased in severe winter. A doctor requesting not to be named said that the available space of the THQ hospital was sufficient to upgrade it to the district headquarters hospital.

He said that apart from the post of medical superintendent, posts of senior cadre doctors, both general duty and specialists, needed to be created. He said that some diagnostic equipments had already been acquired which remained unutilised.

Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2020