PESHAWAR: The proposed 10 to 15 per cent increase in budgetary allocation for medical teaching institutions (MTIs) in the ongoing financial year is unlikely to meet the requirements of medicines and procurements of equipment, especially the costly MRIs and CT scanners, according to experts.

The director of an MTI outside Peshawar told Dawn that prices of medicines, reagents and equipment were increased at least by 50 per cent as compared to previous financial year. “It will be not possible to meet the targets set forth by our team to improve diagnostics and treatment services,” he added.

He said that during the last two months, the directors of all MTIs held meetings with Health Minister Khaliqur Rehman and Health Secretary Shahidullah Khan wherein issues related to requirements were discussed threadbare. “Despite getting assurances, the budget announced by government shows that our needs are unlikely to get materialised,” he said.

The chairman of MTI-Policy Board, Prof Nausherwan Burki, told Dawn that government had increased budget from Rs65 billion in 2025-26 to Rs80 billion in 2026-26. “It is less than we had requested for,” he added.

Hospital official says prices of medicines and equipment have increased by 50pc

He said that budget for single MTI was not allocated so far. “In general I believe that finance department has allocated about 20 to 25 per cent less than the requested but 10 to 15 per cent more than the actual disbursed budget for the previous year,” he said. He said that he was expecting more because of soaring prices of drugs and equipment.

Prof Burki conceded when he reviewed last year’s allocations, there were some discrepancies regarding allocation to MTIs outside Peshawar.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms Act enforced in 2015 has so far extended to 11 hospitals and their affiliated colleges in the province.

The latest in the series in Saidu Group of Teaching Hospitals Swat where Dr Amanullah Khan, the chairman of Board of Governors, is hopeful to resolve the issues that started before the health facility was awarded the status of MTI.

“ Not only healthcare but we are going to resolve pre-MTI issues such as creation of additional 24 paid house job positions, once we will get one-line budgetary allocation,” he said. Seats of house jobs in the hospital were increased from 96 to120.

“Of them, 24 house officers have not been getting stipend for the past one year but we have assured them that they will get their entire unpaid amount soon,” he said.

Dr Aman said that the hospital had trained staff and patient care would further improve as its administration was trying its level best to ensure better working environments for the employees so that they could serve patients effectively.

“This is one of the key strengths of the MTI model and its devolved management system wherein BoG has the flexibility to re-appropriate resources and prioritise funding based on the institution’s most pressing needs, enabling timely and practical solutions to longstanding issues,” he said.

Directors in other MTIs, however, said that installation of new MRI or CT scanners weren’t possible in the amount they were expecting to get from the government.

“The price of an MRI scanner is about Rs800 million, which is not possible to purchase. There are also more than 20 per cent taxes on purchases in addition to devaluation of local currency that makes matters worse because all machines are imported in dollars,” the director of an MTI said.

He said that the only hope was that they had urged health minister and secretary to allocate more money to MTIs outside Peshawar so that they could improve diagnostic and intensive care services and reduce burden on Peshawar-based MTIs.

“Peshawar-based MTIs have already been getting lion’s share in budget in addition to generating huge funds from Sehat Card Plus and institution-based practice. Therefore, this year attention should be accorded to the institutions located outside the provincial capital,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2026