Govt hospitals lack clean drinking water, sanitation

SHRC team finds patients sitting on floor outside OPDs

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HYDERABAD:

Unavailability of clean drinking water, absence of cleanliness and sanitation, power outages with no backup systems, poor infrastructure, and shortage of staff, is all a team of the Sindh Human Rights Commission (SHRC) found during visits to government hospitals in Shikarpur and Kashmore-Kandhkot districts on Thursday and Friday.

SHRC Chairman Iqbal Ahmed Detho, led the visits and noted the absence of adequate toilets, improper seating arrangements, shortfall of beds for patients, and missing supplies of free medicines.

He noted "in sweltering heat, outside an overcrowded outpatient department, many female patients were sitting on the floor due to the lack of proper seating arrangements and waiting rooms." The chairman also noted that specialist doctors were hard to find in the hospitals.

At the Taluka Headquarters Hospital (THQ) in Kandhkot, Chairman Detho directed the authorities to ensure the earliest shifting of the hospital to its new building, while directing the District Health Officer, Dr Aijaz Ali Shah, and Medical Superintendent, Dr Shahnawaz Dahani, to improve the state of services and facilities in the existing building.

Regarding the Taluka Hospital Lakhi in Shikarpur, the chairman stated "in extremely hot conditions, the patients were found lying helplessly on beds during power outages." Further, through the cross-section of the civil societies, with whom interactive sessions were separately organised in the two districts, the commission identified health service related issues to the HRCP.

Prisons & Policing

In the Kashmore-Kandhkot district, which is infested with bandits, tribal conflicts, robberies, and drug peddling issues, the SHRC visited the judicial lockup.

Kashmore-Kandhkot does not have a district jail, with prisoners from the district mostly held in Shikarpur prison. Chairman Detho emphasised the need for the establishment of a district jail as the lack "results in the denial of visitation rights, as well as delays in appearance before the trial courts."