Lawmaker offers 15 acres for RYK hospital

South Punjab MPA Makhdoom Syed Usman Mehmood slams lack of health facilities in his area

LAHORE: An MPA of the Pakistan People’s Party offered the Punjab government 15 acres of his own land for the construction of a trauma centre and hospital in Rahim Yar Khan. The region has a population of 5 million people.

PPP South Punjab MPA Makhdoom Syed Usman Mehmood made the offer during the Punjab Assembly session on Monday. He expressed his gloom over the lack of facilities for the people of RYK who had been deprived of such hospitals. “There is no district level trauma centre/hospital in his area,” said the PPP MPA.

Punjab Minister for Health Dr Yasmin Rashid informed the House that there was no district headquarters hospital in Rahim Yar Khan despite its population of 5 million. The house was told during question hour that no DHQ had been constructed over the last 23 years.

“Are the people of Rahim Yar Khan deprived of a trauma center because they hail from the South Punjab?” asked Makhdoom Usman. He stressed that these circumstances were an injustice to the people of Rahim Yar Khan.

He said RYK lacks a public sector hospital despite the fact that the district comprises 164 union councils, four Tehsils and seven municipal committees. Responding to the MPA, minister for health said Rahim Yar Khan pointed out that none of the previous governments had built a public sector hospital in the area for the last 23 years.

She told the house that a hospital had been announced for the district and the health department was in the process of acquiring the land for that purpose.

Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari asked Makhdoom Usman to donate some of his land for the noble cause. Mazari added Makhdoom Usman had a huge land holding in that area. The deputy speaker asked the PPP MPA to donate 10 acres for the purpose.

“My ancestors donated land for a stadium built in Rahim Yar Khan and also gave up property for the construction of the Sheikh Zayed Hospital there,” he added. Makhdoon Usman also announced the donation of 15 acres of land for the hospital.

Another MPA from Rahim Yar Khan, Chaudhry Shafique of PML-N, complained that there was no medicine available at the THQ in Sadiqabad. A number of lawmakers also bemoaned that anti-venom and anti-rabies vaccines were missing from public sector hospitals of the province.

Dr Yasmin Rashid said the anti-rabies vaccination was only produced in China and India. She said the latter country refused us to export the required vaccine, but the government was making complete efforts to fill the gap. PML-N’s Khalil Tahir Sandhu asked whether India’s refusal to export the vaccination was a violation of international covenants.
The health minister replied that India claimed it was unable to fulfill the requirement of the vaccine for its own people, let alone Pakistan.