Lower Chitral [Gul Hamad Farooqi] When my father fell ill, we took him to Chitral Hospital. He was tested and when the result came, it was found out that my father had to suffer. This news was no less than doomsday for us. My father who was a social worker and He continued to serve others throughout his life, but when bad times came upon him, he could not be served. He was admitted to Chitral Hospital but there was no ventilator in Chitral Hospital. He was forcibly taken to Khyber Teaching Hospital KTH Peshawar. I also had a doctor there, but God did not show anyone what happened to us. In addition to treating the patient in the hospital, the attendant's living conditions, eating and drinking, and hygiene are also a major problem. After all, patients who go to the emergency room do not have that much money, and in Peshawar it is even more difficult for them if they do not know each other.
My father was lying in the Isolation for three days. He was constantly giving oxygen. When the oxygen was removed, he would stop breathing. The last moments were very painful. We were also prevented from meeting our father and later the bad news was announced that he had passed away. There is a big difference between a normal patient and a cornea virus affected. He is often left unattended by his family and people refrain from attending his funeral. We took our father's dead body to Chitral but we had to face many difficulties. These views were expressed by Saud Bashir, son of the late Bashir Ahmed, who was talking about his father Bashir Ahmed who had died in a Peshawar hospital due to corona virus. He added that when a patient is referred to Peshawar, he faces many difficulties in Peshawar hospitals. In addition to buying the patient's treatment medication, the attendants who accompany them also face many difficulties. Patients will not need to be referred to Peshawar if all facilities are provided at the Chitral hospital. Although Chitral's District Headquarters Hospital was upgraded to Category B in 2010, but no additional rooms have been added since then.
Dr. Nisar Ahmed, the Deputy DHO, who is undergoing treatment at a government hospital in Peshawar, also had to suffer when he was spoken on the phone. Were in conflict and went through a lot of pain. He said that unfortunately the only headquarters hospital in Chitral has four ventilators but they are not properly functional and that is why there is no need for serious patients to refer them to Peshawar if all facilities existing here.The second wave of coronavirus has once again started bothering people. In this regard, some of these patients or the relatives of those who died from coronavirus were asked to find out their plight so that a possible solution could be found to these problems.
While the second wave of corona virus has disturbed the world, the number of victims of this epidemic is also increasing rapidly in Pakistan. In remote and backward districts like Chitral, the epidemic has added to the anxiety of government officials as well as the public. Chitral is divided into two districts, Upper Chitral and Lower Chitral, but there is acute shortage of doctors in both the districts.
Similarly, there is no laboratory for corona test in any of the hospitals in Chitral. Here, samples from a suspicious patient are taken to Khyber Medical University Peshawar by car for a corona test, which takes two days and may take longer if the vehicle is damaged on the way. According to Dr. Taseer Jamal, coordinator of COVID-19 in Lower Chitral, there is a risk of an outbreak due to the lack of a laboratory for testing locally, as we consider a suspicious patient to be isolated. Without it, such patients often blend in with people. And they can affect other people too.
According to Dr Taseer, they also lack fuel and other facilities for the vehicle. According to him, between 200 and 230 samples are collected daily for tests in Chitral and these samples are sending to Peshawar for testing.
Now it takes 12 hours to transport these samples to Peshawar. The vehicle arrives late at night and is collected at Khyber Medical University the next day. According to him, it would be great if a laboratory could be set up locally in Chitral.
According to Dr. Taseer, there is no shortage of personal protective equipment, but there are definitely some problems with universal transport media. He revealed that there are only four ventilators in the District Headquarters Hospital in Lower Chitral which are not working. He added that one of his own doctors who was stationed in the DHO office had to pay homage to Dr. Nisar who was taken to Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar. Such patients are forcibly referred to Peshawar. According to him, since there is no diagnostic laboratory, it takes a long time to test it and by the time the patient's result comes, he has adopted it. "It would be great if a laboratory was set up locally in Chitral, because the patients we test do not go into isolation. They often say that my test has not come yet," he said. And so it can spread the virus to other people.
He said traces, tests and quarantine are necessary to control corona. He said that at present there are 65 active cases in Lower Chitral and the total number of positive cases in Lower Chitral is 859 and we have tested 10800 suspects people. He said that so far eight people have died due to Karuna.
According to Dr. Shehzada Haider-ul-Mulk, District Health Officer, Lower Chitral, there is one District Headquarters Hospital in Lower Chitral, a Tehsil Headquarters Hospital (Garm Chashma), two Category D Hospitals in Bonni and six rural health centers in Drosh, RHC, as well as 19 BHU health centers. And 32 civil dispensaries. He said that Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Garm Chashma has been handed over to Aga Khan Health Service under public private partnership but there is also shortage of doctors there. Similarly, there is a vacancy for a female doctor in RHC Ion.
He said that there is a vacant post for a doctor in BHU Bamburit which was causing severe hardship to the people there due to no doctor in Kalash valley. Similarly, there is no lady doctor in Category D Hospital Darosh.
According to Dr. Saleem Saifullah, Coordinator, National Program for Lady Health Workers, some 105 posts of LHW are vacant at Chitral for which we have written to the Director General of Health to invite applications to fulfill these vacancies. There will be a big difference in terms of health.
When asked about this, Dr. Shamim, Medical Superintendent, District Headquarters Hospital, Chitral, said that there is a severe shortage of doctors in DHQ Hospital. He added that this is the only district headquarters hospital in both the districts with 200 beds. There are a total of 106 approved posts of doctors, of which 57 have been vacant for the last ten years. These include the current positions of 21 specialist doctors are still vacant. "Most patients are forced to be referred to Peshawar because there are no facilities for cardiologists, neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons, nephrologists, neurologists, etc. That is why we refer most patients to Peshawar," he said.
He said that the vacant posts of these specialist doctors is also a major obstacle in providing health services. According to Dr. Shamim, a lot of gynecological patients come here from both the districts which is why there is a huge burden on our gynecology unit. "The HDU / ICU of this hospital is not fully operational due to the arrival of the second wave of coronavirus as we also have a severe shortage of trained staff, central oxygen plant, ventilators and personal protective equipment," he said.
According to Dr. Shamim, most of the cardiology, nephrology, orthopedic, psychiatric, neuro and surgeon, skin, cancer and complicated gynecological cases are also referred to Peshawar from DHQ Hospital. He said that an estimated 70 patients are referred to Peshawar every month from this hospital. In addition, despite Gaini being here, sometimes the case becomes complicated and he is also referred to Peshawar.
Prominent scholar of Chitral Dr Inayatullah Faizi was also contacted in this regard. He said that his ancestral home is in Balim village of Upper Chitral district where there is no hospital facility yet. He said that Upper Chitral district is a new district where there is no District Headquarters Hospital yet which is why most of the patients go to DHQ Hospital of Lower Chitral from Upper Chitral. When asked about comprehensive health facilities and arrangements in Chitral, Dr. Faizi said that a foreign-funded burn center has been set up at the District Headquarters Hospital in Chitral to treat burn patients and The injured were to be treated but the burn center is not yet operational and does not have staff. In Chitral, gas cylinder explosions often cause accidents in which people get burnt. Patients are referred to Peshawar, most of whom Doesn't even come alive.
According to Inayatullah Asir, a well-known social activist, Chitral lacks health facilities. He cited the example of a flower-like child belonging to Ayun village on Sunday who had difficulty breathing when he was taken to the rural health center Ayun for treatment he was referred to DHQ Hospital the staff there said that they did not have the facility of oxygen etc. so the child should be taken to the District Headquarters Hospital. The child was taken to the basic health center Broze, but the child died due to lack of oxygen.
Shah Saud, Deputy Commissioner, Upper Chitral District, when contacted and asked about the health facilities, said that there is a shortage of doctors as well as equipment in Upper Chitral District for which he has written to the provincial government and What is the demand for different things through writing? He said that he demanded of equipment’s for Isolation in Upper Chitral district, he has demanded 20 beds, 20 oxygen cylinders, etc. 44 items to prevent the recent second wave of Corona.
Haji Waheed says that the eye specialist in Chitral retired three years ago but no other eye specialist has been posted yet and people are forced to go to Peshawar for eye treatment.
It should be noted that the condition of roads in Chitral is very bad and there are different valleys in Upper Chitral which are located at a distance of several kilometers from each other. Due to the lack of health facilities in these valleys, people often seek treatment through traditional methods. Locals demand the provincial government to provide emergency medical care to backward and remote districts like Chitral so that patients are not forced to be referred to Peshawar and can be treated here.
District Food Controller Chitral Fazal Bari was also asked in this regard that the second wave of coronavirus is spreading rapidly, if necessary, the government can impose lockdown, what is the situation of food in Chitral, including wheat How much stock is in government warehouses? Because Chitral gets wheat at a discounted rate which is sold in government grain warehouses and the wheat bought from these warehouses is grinded by people through a windmill to make flour. DFC Chitral says that at present they have 3900 metric tons of wheat, while in Chitral 75 tons of wheat is consumed daily, the current stock is enough for 52 days for Chitral while more stocks are also coming and we can overcome food shortage in case of lockdowns. However, lockdown can cause of hardships for shortage of other things, such as fresh vegetables, poultry, meat, fruits, etc.
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