How Musharraf, Nawaz and Zardari humiliate Pakistanis

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, former President Asif Ali Zardari and ex-dictator General (R) Pervez Musharraf ruled Pakistan for almost three decades but none of them preferred to have even a medical checkup in the country.

This is no less than humiliation for the people of this country which is known for having worst health conditions and where innumerable people die every day because of poor health services.

According to an official announcement, the third time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is heading for London for medical examination. Former President Asif Ali Zardari when got ill, during his rule, also preferred to fly to Dubai to get treatment in an American Hospital. Only recently, General (R) Pervez Musharraf also left Pakistan for treatment abroad.

All these three make tall claims of what they did during their respective rules but the ground reality is that when it comes to their own self none of them has faith in the medical facilities and infrastructure within Pakistan. 

It speaks volumes of their utter failure to develop better health facilities, and reflects on their sheer apathy of how they chose for themselves foreign treatment but leave the people die here for want of medical treatment.

Health indicators of Pakistan are poor and it is ranked amongst the countries with worst health indicators. Pakistan only spends less than one percent of its gross national product (GNP) and less than four per cent of its gross domestic product on health care. 

According to some recent reports on health conditions as published in The News, lack of essential medical equipment is resulting in thousands of preventable deaths in both the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) as there is no Computerised Tomography (CT scan) machine for at least 31 million people living in 23 districts of these two provinces. The situation in Sindh and Balochistan is far worse.

According to certified data collected from 23 districts of the two provinces through their respective Right to Information (RTI) laws, a large number of oxygen cylinders, ultrasound, ECG and CT scan and X-Ray machines are non-functional in their district headquarters (DHQ) hospitals, causing severe problems for the poor residentsof these areas who are unable to afford private medical care.

The data made shocking revelation that district headquarters (DHQ) hospital of Pakpattan, which caters to over 1.2 million people, does not have even a single functional X-ray machine. Under the international trauma guidelines, each district hospital must have a CT scan machine available to examine head injuries to the victims of accidents and emergencies. 

According to the official data, none of the seven District Headquarter Hospitals of KP that had shared information under the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Act 2013 has CT scan machines for a population of over five million, according to the 1998 Census. These districts are Mansehra, Laki Marwat, Kohat, Charsadda, Swabi, Karak and Hangu.

In the Punjab, 16 District Headquarter Hospitals catering to the population of around 24 million do not have CT scan machines. These DHQs are located in districts Lodhran, Okara, Mandi Bahauddin, Hafizabad, Attock, Mianwali, Kasur, Nankana Sahib, Multan, Layyah, Vehari, Chakwal, Bhakkar, Chinniot, Sialkot and Khushab.

These reports while talking about 21 DHQs of Punjab said that there are 1960 oxygen cylinders in these secondary care hospitals of which 259 are non-functional. There are total 80 ultrasound machines and 14 are not working while out of 186 ECG machines, 36 are out of order. Only six DHQs have functional CT scan machines. The data shows that out of 97 total X-ray machines in these 21 DHQs of Punjab, 20 are non-functional while the Pakpattan DHQ does not have even a single functional X-ray machine.

In the KP, seven DHQs have 188 oxygen cylinders of which 25 are non-functional while there are 25 ultrasound machines but only 17 are working properly. In these seven districts, 16 out of 30 ECG machines are not working. There are 25 X-ray machines in these DHQs but seven of them cannot be used.

According to another report as many as 619 Basic Health Units in Punjab still have no doctors available to treat the patients in rural areas. The medical facilities even in the federal capital are pathetic. In 2014 head of cardiology in capital’s leading hospital- PIMS- was shot in the premises of the hospital but he had to be shifted to a military hospital in Rawalpindi as the CT scan and x-ray machine of the hospital was out of order. While the rulers chose for treatment abroad, a 45-year-old Muhammad Khameed with broken leg was given 34 months time for operation in PIMS.