KARACHI, Aug 12: The health sector has been taken over by a ‘mafia’ that sells hospitals on the pattern of police stations to the highest bidders.

This was observed by Prof Tipu Sultan, a leading medical practitioner, while speaking on ‘Health For All’ at the Karachi Secretariat of the Pakistan People’s Party on Saturday.

Prof Sultan said that high allocations were made for purchasing sophisticated equipment in the name of providing modern healthcare facilities, but the price paid for such equipment appeared to be 8-10 times higher than their rates in the open market. Nobody would raise a finger, he wondered.

There has been a mushroom growth of medical colleges and universities where students are charged astronomical fees but the conditions are deplorable and the faculty non-existent. He alleged that corruption was rampant even in the controlling authorities like the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council.

There is an urgent need to break the hold of this ‘mafia’ and set the priorities correctly.

Prof Sultan said that while the government was spending a mere 0.6 per cent of the GDP on health sector, 97.5 per cent of this meager allocation never reached the patient as it was embezzled on the way down. He pointed out that the countries, like Sri Lanka, which had long been embroiled in a civil war were spending six per cent of their GDP on this sector and were providing excellent health services to their citizens.

Giving a long list of national indexes in the social sector, he drew a scary picture of high rate of infant mortality and deaths during childbirth, non-availability of safe drinking water, complete absence of hygienic sewage systems even in urban areas, epidemic-like spread of contagious diseases, very low rate of child vaccination, almost 10,000 unemployed doctors, thousands of unattended health units (specially in the rural areas), 600, 000 quacks playing havoc with the health of citizens, high birth rate, growing poverty and unemployment, low literacy, and other such factors.

He said that even in the public sector hospitals, the fundamental right of free treatment was not available to citizens. Patients have to buy medicines and philanthropists and charity organisations have to arrange for food for patients.

All this could be set right with better management, efficient use of resources, eradication of corruption and, above all, the political will of the government to provide citizens with their basic needs.

Prof Sultan stressed the need for paying maximum attention to primary health care, preventive measures, as well as promotion of awareness of adopting hygienic and healthy practices. He said that if these aspects were effectively looked after, the load of providing expensive tertiary level healthcare would greatly reduce and all health indicators might show great improvement.

Nawab Yousuf Talpur, who presided over the seminar, claimed that there was an organised attempt by the government to hoodwink the nation in the budget session where fake figures of poverty, unemployment and growth of population were presented. These had been contradicted not only by different government departments but also by the World Bank, which had put the figure of people living below the poverty line at 32 per cent and assessed that another 50 per cent were at the brink of poverty.