GOVERNMENT health facilities have always fallen short of even baseline standards when it comes to providing care to the masses. The poor happen to be most in need of medical treatment, and they are the ones not taken care of by the system.

The government hospital in Kalat, which is one of the most populated cities of Balochistan, is nothing but a symbol of apathy and ineptitude shown by the doctors and the administration alike. Anything that can go wrong, does go wrong at the hospital as far as patients and their attendants are concerned.

Kalat is located between Khuzdar and Quetta, and in most emergency cases, the people of Kalat prefer to go to the provincial capital for medical treatment. Unfortunately, the state-run health facilities even in Quetta lack basic facilities.

For instance, in the Bolan Medical College and Health Complex, the patient-bed ratio stands at 4:1. This alone should be enough to help one imagine what kind of ‘facilities’ are available to the suffering masses. Moreover, private healthcare facilities are too expensive to be affordable. If things do not work out in Quetta, people have to travel all the way to Karachi.

It is beyond any doubt or debate that public-sector health facilities need an overhaul. From administrative issues to the availability of basic facilities, the health facilities run by the government are mere tales of misery and apathy.

Nusrat Zehri
Kalat

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2023