Possible privatisation of THQ Hospital Booni opposed

CHITRAL: Expressing concerns over possible privatisation of the Upper Chitral’s Tehsil Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) Booni, the local leaders of various political parties on Friday vowed to resist any such move.

Parvez Lal, Javed Anwar and others said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government should improve the condition of the hospital instead of handing it over to private parties. Though the hospital has officially been upgraded to a Category “B” facility, with new construction nearing completion, it still lacks specialist doctors, while even the required number of medical officers is not available.

Pervez Lal and others argued that although the hospital currently lacks basic facilities, poor patients can at least access first aid there. If privatized, however, impoverished residents would be unable to afford treatment, he added.

Citing the example of the private hospital in Booni, the local leaders said even a routine patient visit to the facility costs no less than Rs 10,000. “If the DHQ hospital is privatised, poor patients will be left with no choice but to suffer without treatment,” one resident lamented.

The local leaders also pointed out that several doctors from Upper Chitral, trained on government quotas, should be posted back to serve in their home district. They demanded the establishment of proper laboratory facilities and diagnostic services at the DHQ. While the Sehat Card health insurance scheme is technically available, they said its benefits were meaningless without doctors in place.