DADU, April 22 Dialysis machine at the Civil Hospital Dadu is lying idle due to the non-availability of technical staff thus putting at risk, lives of scores of people, besides shortage of medicines, specialist doctors and paramedical staff.

The 160-bedded hospital is running without additional civil surgeon, additional medical superintendent, chief medical resident officer, senior dental surgeon, psychiatrist, gynaecologist, ophthalmologist, urologist, paediatrician, chest specialist, pathologist and radiologist and paramedics and nursing staff.The fate of Surgical Ward is no different as it is undergoing repair work while patients of minor and major surgeries are being admitted to different wards.

However, the worst hit were around 1,100 to 1,200 patients visiting the OPDs daily from Dadu and nearby districts.

The effects of non-supply of medicines could be gauged from the statement of Mumtaz Chandio, father of a child patient Zahid Hussain Chandio. The boy is a kidney patient and was operated upon but the administration failed to supply medicines forcing the poor father to purchase it from private stores.

Ms Farzana, mother of Aisha Kanwal of Pulji Town, said that her daughter was operated for appendicitis ailment but the family had to buy medicines from private stores.

General Surgeon Mohammad Qasim Chandio blamed loadshedding for making operation theatre non-functional even though a gas-operated generator was bought but that too, could not work because of low pressure.

However, around 40 to 45 surgeries were being carried out in a week he said adding that medicine shortage was being experienced since last three weeks. The expense of a surgery comes to around Rs1,000 to Rs2,000 and patients are asked to buy medicines only when these are not available in the hospital, he said.

A patient of injuries, Ghulam Haider, contested the claim of doctor as according to him even an ordinary tablet was not provided by the hospital as he himself encountered the same problem.

Another patient, Mohammad Rajib Shahani faced the same fate as he had to pay for blood tests, including LFTs and X-ray and ultrasound as the above mentioned facilities were not available at the Civil Hospital.

Civil Surgeon Dr Taufiq termed the statement of Mohammad Rajib Shahani as baseless as he himself had ordered to carry out LFTs test free of cost. However, he admitted shortage of specialists and other staff.

Urology unit was established in June 2005 with the cost of Rs1.50 million.

The machinery was damaged because of a fire and which was yet not fixed. Patients either go to Hyderabad or Karachi for dialysis service.