Thousands suffer as hospital shut down in Orakzai

KALAYA: Thousands of residents in Mishti Mela were left without access to medical help as a hospital shut down on Wednesday over discontinuation of funds by government authorities.

The modern Mishti Mela Headquarters Hospital consisting of 110 beds was inaugurated only last year by Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra. The hospital is run and managed by a non-government organisation named Medical Emergency Resilience Foundation (MERF).

The MERF officials said the organisation had not received any funds for the last seven months. “We have been paying all the staff of the hospital from our own resources for the last six months but now we have no more funds,” stated MERF coordinator Dr Sham Iran.

He said the MERF had laid off majority of the nearly 40 staff of the hospital except for those working in the casualty dept. “We would be able to run the Emergency Department for a few more days only. We would completely shut down after that until the release of funds by the government,” he added.

He said that the casualty department provided treatment to around 400 out patients on a daily basis. The next nearest hospital for the nearly 7,000 residents around Mishti Mela is the tehsil hospital in Kalaya, about 30 kilometres away.

According to sources, Deputy Commissioner Khalid Iqbal had written three letters to the authorities concerned to resolve the issue of the non-funding, with no reply so far on the matter.

On the other hand, the residents expressed dismay and frustration over the discontinuation of the majority of the services including maternity ward. “We have been deprived of the basic medical services again. Infants, elderly people and expectant mothers are going without any medical facilities. We demand the government to address the issue immediately or else we will launch a protest campaign,” a woman complained.