TAXILA: Bureaucratic tussle between officials of the district health and building departments has put at stake lives of scores of pregnant women and newborns in the rural areas of Hassanabdal as the area’s basic health unit remains dysfunctional for the last three years.

There is no doctor, paramedical or support staff in the centre, which reportedly is in the custody of drug addicts.

The centre was established in 1961 on over three kanals provided by local landowners to provide basic health facilities to residents of the area who are mostly labourers. However, the building is in urgent need of repair as its roof leaks whenever it rains and the doors and windows remain damaged.

The health centre was handed over to the building department so that it could be fixed. The contractor carried out necessary work but the health department refused to take back possession of the building saying that the work was “unsatisfactory”. Subsequently, the building became no man’s land. The electricity connection was cut by Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) for non-payment of the bill.

“Established on a strategic location along Rawalpindi-Peshawar motorway, a few yards away from Burhan interchange and just opposite the Rawalpindi-Peshawar railway line, this health centre could have been upgraded to a modern trauma centre to provide emergency treatment to accident victims, however, it has turned into a den for drugs addicts,” Munaza Peerzada, president of a local non-governmental organisation claimed.

She said a recent study showed that Pakistan was currently ranked 154th out of 195 countries in terms of healthcare provision, adding that the healthcare infrastructure in the rural areas was crumbling while the authorities continued to watch on in sheer ignorance.

Malik Khan Afsar, village head of Burhan union council, said the centre was established to cater to the needs of maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health of scores of women. He said as this health facility was dysfunctional, pregnant women had to travel 40km to Attock or 20 km to Hassanabdal and subsequently faced complications during delivery.

When contacted, District Health Authority Chief Executive Dr Jawaad Ahmed said the health facility was handed over for execution of necessary maintenance work during the fiscal year 2020-21 as the roof was in bad condition. He said the lady doctor posted there resigned while two employees retired after completion of their service period, and no new hiring could be made due to government ban on recruitment.

When contacted, an official of the building department said the contract was awarded to a local contractor however he left work unfinished due to high cost.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2022