Darul Sehat to stay shut till issue of untrained staff persists, PA told

Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho informed the Sindh Assembly on Friday that the Darul Sehat Hospital in Gulistan-e-Jauhar would remain shut until it resolved the issue of its untrained manpower.

While participating in the pre-budget discussion in the legislature, the heath minister said the Darul Sehat Hospital had been partially sealed by the provincial government by placing a ban on new admissions of patients to the hospital. She added that the private hospital would be reopened only after a proper inspection.

Dr Pechuho informed the PA that over 90 untrained and unregistered paramedical and nursing staff members had been employed at the private hospital. She revealed that after its premises had been sealed, the hospital again applied to the provincial government for a fresh licence to function. She maintained that negligence had been found in the treatment of the deceased Nashwa at the Darul Sehat Hospital as the injection, which should have been administered through a drip, had been given directly to her.

The health minister said three paramedical staffers of the hospital were involved in negligence during Nashwa’s treatment. She also advised the media not to reveal the identities of minors, who had been reportedly diagnosed with HIV disease in Larkana, to prevent complications in their future lives. She said special teams had been sent to Larkana after HIV cases among children were reported there to carry out proper re-tests of the suspect cases.

Punjab has the maximum cases of HIV/AIDS in the country, which amount to 50 per cent of the total cases, Dr Pechuho said, adding that there were 43 per cent of such patients in Sindh. She said every pregnant woman should go through a screening process to avoid the recurrence of AIDS/HIV cases in the future generation. She explained that a proper awareness campaign was being carried out to spread information among the people about methods to prevent HIV/AIDS.

An MPA of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Muhammad Hussain Khan, said the provincial government of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had always ignored urban parts of Sindh as no subsidy had ever been given to an inhabitant of the urban areas of the province. He said if someone demanded the creation of a new province in the country, such a demand should not be construed as illegal or unconstitutional. He said that demand for a separate province could be resolved through proper legislation in the assemblies.

The MQM-P legislator said the dwellers of rural parts of Sindh were being extended favours through subsidies on the purchase of tractors and farm lands while other financial favours were also being extended to the supporters of the ruling party in Sindh.

He said the Sindh Public Service Commission had not been ensuring recruitment against provincial government’s job vacancies through a meritorious process as the government jobs were being given on the basis of cronyism.

PPP MPA Aijaz Shah Bukhari said the major political parties sitting on the opposition benches in the Sindh Assembly were part of the coalition set-up in the federal government where they were least interested in resolving issues of the people of Sindh related to gas, water, and power.

He said the incumbent government of the PPP following the vision of the late leader of the party, Benazir Bhutto, had been constructing roads, highways, bridges and other civic projects to provide best facilities to the people of Sindh.

Sindh Livestock Minister Abdul Bari Pitafi said a new livestock policy had been formulated for the purpose of promoting livestock rearing in the province. He informed the PA that the livestock department had conducted seminars to invite proposals from the stakeholders for improving the livestock sector.

Mufti Fakhar Qasim, an MPA of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan representing a Karachi constituency, said civic conditions of his constituency had been much similar to the conditions prevailing in the Thar region as the government-run schools and colleges were in a shambles. He said the buildings of government schools in his constituency should be renovated to ensure safety of their students.

Mice destroy sound system

The pre-budget debate in the Sindh Assembly continued on Friday for the fifth consecutive day, however, the lawmakers could not make their speeches through the regular microphone system attached to their desks.

The proper sound system of the new hall of the Sindh Assembly was rendered useless as their wires were cut by mice. The lawmakers had to rely on special wireless microphones for making speeches in the house.

Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Khan Durrani confirmed that mice inside the assembly hall had rendered the sound system ineffective. The speaker informed the house that the sound system would be shortly restored.