Patient patients

In Lahore, it takes about nine months to build an underpass or overhead bridge. It took just over a year to complete the metro bus project and over four years to almost complete a mega project like the Lahore Orange Line Metro Train. So how long will it take to build a hospital in mega cities like Lahore, Multan or Faisalabad? The last big government hospital, Jinnah Hospital, Lahore, was built some 20 years back in Lahore. Since then the population has doubled while the healthcare facilities have deteriorated with the same rate.

Our government is more interested in building roads and metros, but it is not thinking about the welfare of the sick and the injured that are deprived of basic healthcare facilities. That the government will completely ignore the country’s healthcare system is alarming. The main reason behind this negligence is that the rich and well-off government officials go abroad for medical treatment. It is an unfortunate truth that the ruling elite of our country is oblivious to the sufferings and pain of the common man.

Mehreen Hasan (Lahore)