TAXILA: Another video revealing a sanitation worker of the Rawalpindi Waste Management Company (RWMC) treating a minor patient in the emergency ward of the Taxila Tehsil Headquarters Hospital (THQ) surfaced online on Saturday, drawing ire and condemnation from the public.

In July last year, a similar video appeared on social media, featuring a sanitation worker performing a procedure on a road accident victim.

The recent video, filmed by an attendant with a minor patient, showed a member of the sanitation staff treating a patient in medics’ presence.

When contacted, District Health Authority Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr Asif Arbab Niazi said the sanitation worker did not perform any medical procedure as he was there just to assist the medics.

As the video kept making rounds on social media, netizens lamented what they called the “sorry state of affairs in the public sector hospitals, especially in the rural areas”.

In Pakistan, public health facilities have long been plagued by a lack of official oversight.

When contacted, Deputy District Health Officer Dr Shahzad Rasool claimed that the sanitation worker was not treating the patient in the emergency department but was helping medics in canolation.

However, he failed to answer as to why the worker was not wearing the RWMC uniform while on duty and how a sanitary worker prone to germs could even “help” the staff while treating a minor.

He also did not respond to a question as to what became of a previous action that was initiated by the hospital against a quack carrying out a surgical procedure in the emergency ward of the same hospital in July of the previous year.

It may be recalled that on July 1, 2024, an official was caught on camera wearing an RWMC uniform and stitching injuries of a teenage road accident victim in the tehsil headquarters hospital’s emergency department.

Health authorities formed a probe committee to brush the matter under the carpet. The probe committee hasn’t come up with a conclusion despite the lapse of seven months.

Sources within the department claimed that to brush off the matter, the health authorities again formed a committee comprising doctors of the same hospital, raising questions about the transparency of the inquiry.

In the wake of the fresh episode, citizens have urged authorities concerned to conduct an impartial probe.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2025