Ill-treatment: Thousands of patients suffering due to lack of zakat funds

Minister says money being spent on district-level hospitals rather than urban institutes

PESHAWAR: As financially disadvantaged patients line up for free treatment at Khyber Teaching Hospital, the staff has little choice but to raise a hand in apology. This is because the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Zakat and Ushr department has not released funds for public sector hospitals since July 2013.

Ahmad Gul, 53, has been admitted to the KTH for the last ten days due to a spinal disc problem. The farmer comes from a poor background and cannot afford treatment. “My son brought me to KTH for free treatment, but the hospital management rejected my application for zakat and now my son has to borrow money from relatives,” he said.



Gul is not the only one suffering from such an ordeal. Thousands meant to benefit from zakat funds across the province are suffering as public hospitals are unable to entertain their requests for free treatment.

Requesting anonymity, a KTH official told The Express Tribune an annual sum of Rs10 million was released by the zakat and usher department for public sector teaching hospitals in K-P in previous years. However, none of them have received a single penny since July 2013. “Patients suffering from chronic diseases are dying as they cannot afford treatment or medicines,” he said.

The official said the hospital has little choice but to send these patients home.

According to official documents available with The Express Tribune, the total budget of the K-P Zakat and Ushr department in 2013-14 was over Rs670 million, of which almost Rs18 million was set aside for provincial hospitals. In the latest budget for 2014-15, announced in early September, Rs30 million was allocated for health and Rs50 million for provincial-level hospitals.



Chief pharmacist and in charge of zakat funds for hospitals, Jalil Anwar said that since 1988, funds of around Rs10 million were released in two installments every year. However, he also confirmed that no money had come since July 2013 and poor patients were losing their battles against cancer, hepatitis and diabetes.

Anwar added that Rs50 million in emergency funds were also released for hospitals earlier, but this year, public sector medical institutions were not in a position to help poor patients. He added the KTH alone spent Rs2.5 million on the treatment of displaced people, but not a penny of those funds came from the government.

Explaining lack of zakat funds for hospitals in urban centres, K-P Minister for Religious Affairs, Zakat and Ushr, Habibur Rahman, said the focus of the department was on institutions at the district-level where they could reach more impoverished people who could not travel to Peshawar. He claimed a certain amount was released for public sector hospitals and cheques have also been finalised to release the remainder in the coming week.

He added that Rs50 million had already been released for IRNUM Hospital for Cancer, Hayatabad Kidney Centre and TB Hospital in Baghdada, Mardan as well as others.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2014.