OKARA, Dec 6: The 128 public healthcare centres in the district, which has a population of 2.8 million, have been facing an acute shortage of doctors, paramedics, medicines and facilities, resulting in a poor health infrastructure for the masses. The healthcare facilities in the three tehsils of the district— Okara, Deepalpur and Renala Khurd— comprise a district headquarters hospital (DHQ), an additional DHQ hospital, two tehsil headquarters hospital (THQs), 11 rural health centres (RHCs), 96 basic health units (BHUs) and 18 dispensaries, being run under the provincial health department through the district health office.

Total 172 posts have been lying vacant at various levels of the health infrastructure in the district, while 40 doctors’ posts are also vacant under the school health programme (SHP) initiated by Junejo government.

The SHP was mainly initiated to monitor the physical growth of schoolchildren through maintenance of charts pertaining to their weight and height. It was also aimed at detection of any serious health problem among the children, including diseases causing permanent disability, impaired eye sight, tuberculosis, cardiac problems, resulting in a lack of interest in education on students’ part. It was envisaged under the SHP that the doctors posted at the nearest BHUs would create awareness on health issues among the schoolchildren. Sadly, the programme was virtually shelved by successive governments.

However, recently, District Coordination Officer Muhammad Aslam Kamboh, with the assistance of EDO (Health) Dr Muhammad Akram, tried to revive this programme at the Muslim Rajput High School, but it got discontinued due to shortage of doctors in the district.

Meanwhile, the 125-bed DHQ hospital mostly remains full of patients as more than 80 per cent BHUs and RHCs in the district are without doctors, and the poor people, especially from the rural areas, have to rely on this facility. According to official statistics, about 600 patients visit the hospital’s OPD daily where only one MO and seven specialist doctors are supposed to provide them medical care. The specialists include a general surgeon, ENT specialist, orthopaedic surgeon, child specialist, eye surgeon, cardiologist and a radiologists.

At the DHQ hospital, the post of gynaecologist, besides those of four medical officers, including two women MOs, have been lying vacant for the last 10 years.

The hospital is also in a dire need of a neurosurgeon, with facility of CT scan, besides a skin specialist.

The hospital’s pathology laboratory offers limited diagnostic facilities, while its emergency ward receives about 70 cases daily, including the medico-legal case. According to official record, about eight medico-legal certificates are issued daily by the emergency ward’s causality medical officer (CMO). The women seeking MLCs are attended by a woman MO.

The emergency ward CMO has to conduct an average one postmortem at each alternative day, while a CMO has to perform all these duties since the DHQ hospital emergency ward is always flooded with patients.

The hospital is also badly needs an internal telephone exchange. Moreover, the heavily burdened hospital has only one ECG machine and the only technician, who has also to attend patients in the emergency ward.

The hospital has been working without a gynaecologist for the last seven years. The poor women in need of maternity services have to visit private clinics charging exorbitant fees.

The doctors are of the view that the situation is hard to improve unless a realistic and public-oriented health policy is framed by the government. Similarly, to bring dedicated professionals in the goverment-run medical facilities, a justified service structure is a must.