KOHAT: The Kohat divisional headquarters hospital, which was made functional 16 years ago to cater to the needs of patients of adjoining districts and tribal areas, lacks the facilities of MRI, CT scan, burns angiography and trauma centre.

Despite availability of more than Rs1 billion in the shape of royalty on oil and gas for provision of health and educational facilities, about three million people living in Kohat division have been deprived of necessary amenities.

The patients from Kohat division, comprising three districts, two tribal agencies and two frontier regions, are forced to go to Peshawar and Rawalpindi for treatment. People spend thousands of rupees on medical checkups and travelling owing to absence of specialist doctors at the hospital.

The local people said that lack of facilities at the hospital put the lives of serious patients, who were brought there from far-flung areas of Kohat division, in danger.

They were referred to Peshawar and as a result many of them died on the road before reaching any of the hospitals in the provincial capital, they added.

A hear patient has to spend about Rs12,000, including travelling expenses, to undergo angiography at a private hospital in Peshawar. The heart patients will have to spend only Rs2,500 for angiography if the facility is made available locally.

The divisional hospital has quite a history of ignorance by the lawmakers of successive governments. Its status was also changed several times. It was placed in category A when it started functioning, then it was made a category C hospital by the provincial government of MMA and again it was changed to category B while it is placed in category C.

The hospital remained non-functional for more than six years owing to what the then government called paucity of funds. Initially, it was promised by the authorities that facilities of MRI, CT scan, burns angiography and trauma centre would be provided at the hospital and separate rooms were also constructed for the purpose. However, the rooms are still vacant, having no machinery and technicians.

Same is the case with the Women and Children Hospital, which was given this name because two big hospitals of district and division level, although lacking facilities, could not exist in one district.

The previous provincial government of ANP announced that the hospital would be reconstructed at a cost of Rs800 million and all senior officials of health ministry visited it but the project was shelved for unknown reasons.

The government has been insisting that the people of Kohat division have all halth facilities available at one-hour journey at Peshawar. However, it seems that the government doesn’t know that a single second is precious in case someone gets injured in a bomb blast and sectarian clash or suffers from serious heart attack.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2015

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