NICH to take over children’s hospital

The government of Sindh has decided to give Sindh Government Children Hospital (SGCH) under the administrative control of the National Institute of Child Health (NICH). The hospital was previously being run on a public-private partnership model, under which the government had entered a partnership with a non-governmental organisation (NGO). The partnership, however, lasted just four years, after which the NGO stopped functioning due to the shortage of funds. The hospital’s officials said around 2,500 children were brought to the facility’s out-patient department every day and claimed the Sindh government hadn’t released the required funds for the hospital. They said the hospital’s employees had been protesting the non-payment of salaries and that was why the government had to hand over its management to the NICH.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th, 2020.