SKARDU: Dozens of youth volunteers on Saturday launched a cleanliness campaign here on Saturday. The campaign organised by ‘Mountain Youth Forum’ was participated by male and female youth volunteers belonging to various youth and students organisations and local journalists, while the DHQ hospital administration and municipal committee also extended help to the volunteers.

The drive was launched from the district headquarters hospital, Skardu, in the morning.

Addressing a gathering on the occasion, DHQ hospital medical superintendent Dr Ashraf Hussain thanked the youth volunteers for launching the cleanliness campaign.

He said that the hospital had to raise the number of beds from the existing 50 to 170 to meet the rush of people coming from two districts of Baltistan region.

Mr Ashraf said that the hospital had only seven regular sweepers who were not enough to clean the building comprising 480 rooms covering an area of 72 kanals of land. He said that the hospital needed at least 45 sweepers to maintain the upkeep of the health facility.

Dr Ashraf said that the cleanliness campaign would be fruitful in creating awareness among the patients and attendants to keep the hospital clean and throw rubbish at the designated places. He said rubbish littered the hospital and even wards were not spared.