Dr Kachkol Khan reinstated as Mardan DHO

PESHAWAR: The government reinstated Dr Kachkol Khan as district health officer (DHO) Mardan on Friday after having been removed last month after numerous complaints against him.

In a notification issued on Friday, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department stated that Dr Mohammad Aurangzeb, Medical Superintendent of Type -D Hospital at Shahbaz Ghara, had been relieved of his additional responsibility of DHO Mardan.

The government had removed Dr Kachkol Khan from his position as DHO Mardan on May 1 following complaints against him that COVID-19 vaccines meant for the elderly people at that time were either allegedly sold or provided to irrelevant people on the basis of personal relationship.

According to officials of the Health Department, an inquiry committee was constituted to probe the allegations against Dr Kachkol Khan and his team.

Most of the complaints were reported from Tehsil Headquarter Hospital at Takht Bhai in Mardan district where Dr Kachkol Khan was earlier posted and his close friends were allegedly assigned important positions.

KP Health Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra had taken action against Dr Kachkol Khan after Dr Faisal Sultan, Advisor to Prime Minister on Health, received complaints about irregularities in the vaccination programme in Mardan.

According to sources in the Health Department, the DHO office and staff of the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, Takht Bhai and in other places in Mardan had allegedly badly mishandled the vaccines but there was no way to prove those allegations against them.

“You can’t prove anything in this country otherwise everybody knows how the vaccine was misused at that time. I think the government will need to replace Dr Kachkol Khan sooner or later as he proved himself an incompetent officer to efficiently serve in a challenging situation,” remarked an official of the Health Department on condition of anonymity.

He said they had received complaints from multiple sources that vaccines were given to irrelevant people, particularly personal friends, family members and relatives of the doctors and healthcare providers in Mardan. Dr Kachkol Khan avoided commenting on these allegations against him after his reinstatement.