- Former governor says attendance rate of doctors in hospitals is less than 60 per cent
LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar on Sunday said the provincial health sector is in shambles due to the incompetence of the Punjab government.
The PTI leader and former governor, Muhammad Sarwar, issued a white paper about on the performance of the government in the health sector, stating that there is only one doctor against at least 1,700 patients in the province.
The former governor said that the chief justice of Pakistan had been compelled to visit hospitals due to the incompetence of the provincial rulers.
In Punjab, there are 302 DHQ hospitals and 23 teaching hospitals, while not a single hospital has managed to hire doctors against the required posts, the former governor said, adding that the attendance of doctors in the hospitals is less than 60 per cent.
“At least 50 per cent [1200] hospitals out of total 2,400 hospitals in Punjab are facing a shortage of doctors and medicine,” the white paper stated.
According to white paper, the rulers claimed to provide free medicine to patients, but in fact, hospitals in Punjab were even unable to accommodate patients.
The protest and strike culture in hospitals is the manifestation of incompetence and inability of the rulers, he stated while referring to the strikes of paramedical staff and doctors in the province.
“The Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) gives a time of one year for bypass operation and six to seven months for angiography to patients, whereas Asia’s biggest hospital, Mayo Hospital, is unable to meet the needs of people,” the white paper went on to state.
At least 3.4 million people in the country are TB patients and 2, 00,000 patients are contracting the disease on an annual basis, it said, adding that at least seven million people are patients of hepatitis B and hepatitis C.