LORALAI is one of the largest cities in Balochistan having a dense population. Unfortunately, the people of the city are forced to take to the streets every now and then to protest against the apathy shown by government institutions. The Teaching Hospital, Loralai, is a case in point.

Patients die at the hospital in the absence of doctors in different departments, especially in the emergency ward. There is a lack of facilities that also causes trouble to patients and their families. The hospital has always been in the news for all the wrong reasons because of the incompetence and negligence of the doctors and staff associated with it.

Videos and photos from inside the hospital often go viral on social media platforms when people want to show the falling standard of the national healthcare sector. These videos and photos are recorded and taken by desperate family members of patients trying to find a doctor in the hospital as their patients lie in a critical condition. Through social media platforms, one comes to know about the plight of the people, but the people responsible for providing healthcare are hardly bothered by such posts. They are either immune or apathetic.

However, as a pre-emptive measure, the hospital administration has recently issued a notification, released through the office of the medical superintendent, which has prohibited the making of videos or taking photos on hospital premises. In simple words, the administration wants people to suffer the prevalent callousness without even a murmur.

The hospital management needs to be taken to task by the provincial authorities in the larger interest of the people who already face scarcity of healthcare facilities, and have to travel long distances in search of medical treatment. Health is a fundamental right. People are not asking for the moon.

Najeebullah
Loralai

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2023