By Zahiruddin
CHITRAL; Out of the recently recruited 1299 doctors in the health department, 9 were posted to DHQ hospital Chitral Lower, 55 in Lower Chitral district and 19 in Upper Chitral district whose total comes to 83.
A knowledgeable source in the health department told Chitral Times that strangely enough, no woman medical officer was posted in THQ hospital Drosh (Chitral Lower) where 4 posts of lady doctors are vacant since long over which local people has launched a full-scale agitation in January last but they were pacified by the commitment of the local MPA.
Similarly, the THQ hospital Booni, the district headquarters of the newly created district of Upper Chitral, did not get any lady doctor against 5 vacant posts of woman medical officers where too people have been on protest against it leading to law and order situation.
The source said that 7 civil dispensaries (CDs) in Lower Chitral and 4 in Upper Chitral have given a medical officer which could be run only a health technician while such facilities were housed in a single rented room with no accommodation facility for the doctor.
He said that out 83 doctors, only 9 were residents of Chitral and the non-local doctors needed accommodation facilities without which they will not be able stay in the far-flung villages with the result that they will absent themselves or try to get themselves transferred to down districts.
He said that there were 21 basic health units (BHUs) in both the two districts of Chitral as primary healthcare facility with two sanctioned posts of medical officers in each lying vacant for the last three to four years in all of them.
“In the recent postings, more than 12 BHUs did not get any doctor while it is a fact their strengthening was required which was not possible without doctor”, he said adding that posting a doctor in CDs was a futile practice where no diagnostic facility was available.
He said that the postings needed rationalization so that the BHUs get doctors which could provide primary healthcare facility to the people at their doorsteps as every union council in Chitral have one or two of them.
He said that a lady doctor from down district had been in a CD of Yarkhoon which was situated at a drive of more than 14 hours from the city and one can well imagine if she could report there for duty.
When the district health officer, Dr. Haiderul Mulk, he confirmed that the posting of the newly appointed doctors in Chitral needed rationalization on need basis for which the competent authority was being approached.
