MULTAN, April 1: Working of 27 municipal medical and health centres is badly hampering in the city in the absence of basic diagnostic equipments.

Essential equipments like ENT and eye diagnostic set, oxygen cylinder, syringe cutter, microscope and steriliser are missing in these centres.

Even the BP apparatus is not available in medical health centres (MMCs) of Chowk Sheeda, Hassan Pervana, Lakar Mandi, Shareef Pura, Qadeerabad, Islam Nagar, Gulshanabad and Iqbal Nagar.

The situation is more deplorable in women health centres (WHCs) where neither the diagnostic nor cold chain equipments like refrigerators and thermometers are available.

The water supply of MMCs of Chowk Sheeda, Qadeerabad, Islam Nagar and WHCs of Shahshams, Shareefpura, Chowk Sheeda and Timber Market have been disconnected for the last three years. This has led to the deterioration of sanitation and cleanliness condition in these centres.

When contacted, the MMC chief health officer attributed the deplorable situation of medical centres to the non-availability of funds.

Since he was newly-appointed, he did not know about the exact situation of medicines and equipment, he said. The Multan Municipal Administration would soon invite bids for purchasing medicines, he added. —Nouman