HYDERABAD: A former director general of Health Services Sindh and medical superintendent of Liaquat University Hospital (LUH), Dr Hadi Bux Jatoi, has strongly opposed the Sindh health department’s proposal to separate the LUH City and Jamshoro branches.

Speaking at a news conference at the local press club on Wednesday, he said that Hyderabad, in fact, needed a new hospital like LUH instead of its separation, which was “illogical”.

He said that LUH, one of the oldest teaching hospitals in Sindh, should not be separated as it would defeat the very purpose of its establishment.

He added that all emergency cases were handled at the LUH City branch, and then patients were shifted to the LUH Jamshoro branch.

Dr Jatoi maintained that the Rajputana Charitable Hospital was lying abandoned and could be used to set up a new hospital, otherwise it might fall prey to “interested quarters”.

He said that people could not afford expensive treatment in Karachi, as they could not bear the cost of treatment there.

“LUH can be run efficiently if better administration is ensured by the health department,” he said.

Dr Jatoi said that only recently, some unconcerned individuals had intruded into a ward, where a woman started raising a hue and cry. He regretted that such incidents occurred at LUH.

He noted that multiple newborns were kept on a single bed in the paediatric ward due to a lack of resources.

He alleged that a “system” existed in the health department and that “positions” were sold for millions.

Dr Jatoi said that this had been the case previously and that he had headed LUH and also served as DG Health Services Sindh before his retirement.

He maintained that the Health Management Board of LUH, which met last Friday, had discussed the proposal for the hospital’s separation, but the decision of the board’s meeting had not yet been made public.

He disclosed that there used to be checks and balances on professors working under the university’s administration, but now no such mechanism existed.

The former DG said that the separation proposal of LUH was also discussed by Faisal Gabol, adviser to the Sindh government on health, but the idea was dropped.

He said that the proposal would be detrimental to the public and that he and other like-minded people would oppose it.

He demanded that Hyderabad also needed space for graveyards, as existing ones had no capacity left for burials.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2026