Healthcare crisis grips Hyderabad

Public hospitals crippled by official neglect

HYDERABAD:

Acute shortages of medicines, diagnostic facilities and functional medical equipment have left government hospitals across Hyderabad struggling to provide even basic healthcare, largely due to alleged apathy and poor oversight by officials of the Sindh Health Department.

According to reports, essential medicines have virtually disappeared from Civil Hospital Hyderabad as well as all taluka hospitals in the city. Even routine laboratory tests cannot be conducted at taluka-level facilities due to the absence or breakdown of basic machinery. As a result, patients are being forced to seek treatment at private hospitals and laboratories, where they are charged thousands of rupees even for preliminary check-ups, adding to their financial distress.

The situation has worsened to the extent that the trauma centre built on Hala Naka Road has remained non-functional, while large government hospital buildings present a deserted look at night. This has placed an ever-increasing burden on Civil Hospital Hyderabad, the only major government healthcare facility for the city and interior Sindh, where patients arrive daily in large numbers from across the region. However, Civil Hospital itself is plagued by non-functional machinery and inadequate treatment facilities.

Hospital sources say that prolonged political interference and alleged appointments to senior administrative positions on the basis of influence rather than merit have resulted in chronic mismanagement. This has previously led to unrest by attendants and, more alarmingly, complaints related to the transfer and alleged sale of newborn babies.

At present, Civil Hospital Hyderabad has only one MRI and one CT scan machine operational, while other diagnostic machines have remained out of order for months. Patients are advised to wait one to two months for MRI scans. In the emergency ward, only initial first aid is provided, after which critical patients are referred to Karachi. The burns ward faces a similar situation, lacking modern treatment facilities despite having a designated ward.

Sources further revealed that even in the Intensive Care Unit, immediate testing facilities are unavailable, forcing patients to get tests done privately. Hundreds of patients visit the hospital's OPDs daily, but due to the non-availability of government-supplied medicines, doctors often prescribe medicines to be purchased from outside.

Conditions at taluka hospitals in Hyderabad are reportedly even worse. Facilities such as Sindh Government Bhittai Hospital Latifabad, Government Hospital Qasimabad, Kohsar Hospital Latifabad, Government Hospital Pretabad and Government Hospital Hali Road, along with several basic health units, lack not only testing facilities but even essential medicines. Patients with serious conditions are routinely referred to Civil Hospital without proper examination, while OPD patients are advised to visit private medical stores and laboratories.