A bitter pill: Patients and deaths increase as doctors still fail to show up

Report submitted to health secretary, disciplinary action proposed.

HYDERABAD: The death tolls continued to rise as four more children reportedly died in Thar on Tuesday.

Two of them have been identified as four-month-old Dev Kumar, who died in the Mithi Civil Hospital, and one-year-old Moula Bux Nohrio in Diplo. Doctors also report an increase in stomach virus cases, with at least 10 more children being admitted to the Mithi Civil Hospital Mithi alone.



As the patients admitted in Tharparkar government hospitals suffer from a shortage of doctors, deputy commissioner (DC) Asif Ikram claimed that 112 children have died along with 79 adults in the past four months. However, unofficial figures range between 180 and 220 for children and infants alone since December 2014.

The DC said a total of 191 people have died since famine conditions arose four months ago. These also include 49 men and 30 women. As a rare official admission of the deaths came, it also emerged on Tuesday that 15 of the 27 doctors posted in different health facilities in Tharparkar in early March have still not joined.

According to the district health officer, Dr Jaleel Bhurgari, only 12 of the doctors resumed their duties from March 10 after the Health Department took notice of their absence. He said that he has submitted a report of the remaining 15 doctors, four of whom are women, to the health secretary for disciplinary action. "The doctors posted in Tharparkar and those from outside the district appear unwilling to work here."



Five of these doctors are in Basic Pay Scale (BPS)-18 while ten others are BPS-17 doctors - all of whom are now drawing their salaries without actually working at the hospitals. Seven of them are posted at rural health centres, two at taluka hospitals and the remaining six at the district health office.

According to the DC, 44 mobile health teams are working in the district, in addition to the government hospitals, clinics and dispensaries. Ikram claimed that government hospitals have provided medical treatment to 52,021 patients, while the Peoples Primary Healthcare Initiative's facilities have treated 41,525 patients.

The DC also claimed that 108,963 50-kilogramme wheat bags and 21,600 ration bags have been distributed so far by the district administration, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority and other humanitarian agencies. However, around 150,000 families are yet to receive subsidised wheat in Tharparkar.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 26^th, 2014.