Residents of North Waziristan call upon the ministry concerned to upgrade pathology facilities
NORTH WAZIRISTAN: I want to bring to the government’s attention an important issue. The issue is about healthcare problems in the tribal district of North Waziristan.
There are not enough health facilities. Only two tehsil-level hospitals are operational in North Waziristan. These hospitals have insufficient staff and facilities for relief of the population of North Waziristan.
We, the people of North Waziristan, are not demanding any new hospital, but request the authorities to upgrade the facilities available at the existing ones, including the provision of necessary staff so that people do not have to travel to other districts.
The THQ Hospital Miran Shah does not have enough staff. The pathology department, in particular, is not fully functional due to lack of qualified and experienced staff. Pathology labs are being operated by diploma holders.
There is no single expert in the microbiology and molecular biology sections, which are the main sections of the pathology department dealing with common bacterial and viral infections. People who suffer from HIV, HBV and HCV have to send their samples to Peshawar and Lahore for screening which increases the cost of treatment by 100 per cent. Common people can’t afford the cost of diagnosis and tests. Therefore, we, the residents of North Waziristan, call upon the ministry concerned to take steps to upgrade pathology facilities at THQ hospitals in Miran Shah and Mir Ali.
Mukhtar Ullah
Published in The Express Tribune, January 13th, 2019.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
