CHITRAL, Jan 22: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is all set to give on lease two hospitals in Chitral district to Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS) for five years, sources said here on Saturday.

They said that modalities of the contract were being worked out under which the healthcare facilities would be handed over to the private organisation. The hospitals to be given on lease include the Rural Health Centre, Mastuj, and Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, Garam Chashma.

When contacted, executive district officer (health) Dr Sher Qayyum confirmed this and said that the step was being taken to properly run the hospitals and provide maximum healthcare facilities to people. He said that the lease process was likely to be completed by the first week of February and for this purpose a memorandum of understanding would be signed between the provincial government and the AKHS.

Meanwhile, people of the district have expressed their deep concern over the plan to privatise the two hospitals and said that availing of health facilities would go beyond the capacity of a common man.

Rahmat Ali, an activist of an NGO, said that although the AKHS was providing better healthcare services than the government hospitals, its charges for consultation and diagnostic facilities were exorbitant.

Giving a comparison, Mr Ali said that only Rs3 was charged for the chit of outpatient department (OPD) at the government hospitals as against the Rs75 at the AKHS-run hospitals. He said that the rates of availing diagnostic facilities at the AKHS hospitals were almost double of that in the government hospitals. He said that the rates of medicines at pharmacy shop were fixed by the management at the AKHS hospitals.

Another social worker Qayyum Shah from upper Chitral said that a poor man would think so many times to go to the AKHS-run hospitals due to high charges there.

Former MNA Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali said that health and education were the two sectors where facilities should be within the reach of a common man. He said that people of Chitral were already groaning under the burden of unemployment and rising prices of essential commodities.

He asked the government to provide facilities in the government hospitals instead of privatising them.