Health Dept draws flak in KP Assembly

Lawmaker seeks medicines, equipment purchase details for Basic Health Unites in Lakki Marwat

PESHAWAR: The performance of the Health Department drew flak in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Monday as legislators raised questions over provision of health service delivery and availability of medicines and equipment in basic health units (BHUs).

Malik Noor Salim Khan of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) had sought details about purchase of medicines and equipment for public hospitals and BHUs in his native Lakki Marwat district from 2014 to 2016.

He said he was not satisfied with the details provided by the Health Department.The lawmaker said the list shared with him mentioned 30 water-coolers, but he didn’t see anything during his visit to the health facilities. He said there were only six wheelchairs while the figure in the list was high and the same was the case with medicines.

Through another question, Najma Shaheen from Kohat asked about the Accident and Emergency Department at the Women and Children Hospital Kohat.  The Health department admitted in its answer that patients were referred to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) in Kohat after being given first aid as other facilities like surgical, cardiology, medical, CT scan, intensive care unit, orthopedic, burn, MRI and digital X-Ray units were necessary for emergency services.

Health Minister Shahram Khan Tarakai tried to defend his department by arguing that the DHQ hospital in Kohat was located at a short distance from the Women and Children Hospital and patients were referred over there.He said that a plan was being made to improve service delivery at the hospital.

Regarding the question of Noor Salim Khan, he said that purchases were being made through verification committee.The mover advocated referring the matter to the concerned assembly committee. However, the minister said the Health department would discuss the matter with the concerned member.

Speaker Asad Qaiser deferred the questions and asked the minister to satisfy the movers or else the matter would be referred to the assembly committee.Yasin Khalil of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf raised question about the appointment of Dr Sahib Gul as provincial coordinator for the Mother Newborn and Child Health (MNCH). He argued that this doctor was junior for the post and his appointment was illegal as his degree needed to be verified.

He said Dr Sahib Gul was student of the Al-Khair University, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and was also doing job in the Health department. He said the doctor in question didn’t get the no-objection certificate and was facing inquiries.

The mover demanded that Dr Sahib Gul should be suspended till inquiry was carried out into his case. The Health minister defended the MNCH head and said Dr Sahib Gul was appointed under the directives from the chief minister in 2013 while he got his degree from Al-Khair University in 2000.

The Speaker deferred the question for two days and asked the minister to settle the matter by discussing it with the mover.The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly passed four bills that included the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Higher Education Academy of Research and Training Bill, 2016, the KP Tibb and Homoeopathic Employees (Amendment) Bill 2016, Tuberculosis Notification Bill, 2016 and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Faculty of Paramedical and Allied Health Sciences Bill, 2016.

Besides, three more bills were introduced in the House. These include the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Prohibition of Tobacco and Protection of Non-Smokers Health Bill, 2016, the KP Blood Transfusion Safety Authority Bill, 2016 and the Brain Institute Bill, 2016.