PESHAWAR, Jan 1: Patients are suffering because of a shortage of qualified doctors at hospitals. According to official figures, there are 15,087 beds in the NWFP hospitals with 3,580 beds in seven teaching hospitals , 3,237 in 15 district headquarter hospitals, 377 in 10 tehsil headquarter hospitals, 886 in 87 rural health centres, 112 in 415 dispensaries and the 6,879 in other health facilities. "These are not enough to cater to the needs of the province's 19 million people," an official said.
Most of the beds in other hospitals remain unoccupied as most patients were usually rushed to teaching hospitals because of a shortage of facilities and trained staff, he said.
The number of trained and qualified personnel was only 26,688, which was inadequate to cater to the needs of the province's population, the official said. The province, he said, had only 291 specialists, 3,475 medical officers, 200 dental surgeons, 1,932 nurses, 918 lady health visitors, 1,827 technicians, 1,381 dispensers, 12,000 lady health workers, 1,385 EPI workers and 2,797 other staff.
He said that budgetary allocation for health sector in the current year was Rs4.332billion or 7.4 per cent of the total provincial outlay of Rs54.5billion. The province produced 541 doctors and 74 dental surgeons each year, he added.
The official said that Rs153million were being spent on education and training of the health staff during the current fiscal year.
The immunisation coverage was 70 per cent against the national target of 90 per cent, while the infant mortality rate was 79 per 1,000 against 50 per 1,000 of national target. Under-five mortality rate is 116 per 1,000 against 80 per 1,000 of the national target.
Likewise, 47 per cent people visited the hospitals for antenatal care against 65 per cent of the national target. The number of underweight babies was 38 per cent against 25 per cent of the national target.
Officials said Rs180 million was being spent to improve reproductive health in the province.
Only 28 per cent of the population get healthcare from trained people against the national target of 65 per cent and iodised salt was used by 22 per cent people against a national target of 50 per cent. The number of people having access to safe drinking water was 63 per cent against 85 per cent of the national target.
Only 39 per cent had access to sanitation facilities against 60 per cent set forth in the national target, while primary enrolment and adult literacy rates stood at 39 per cent and 40 per cent against the national target of 90 and 80 per cent, respectively.