KOHAT, April 2: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health secretary Munir Azam visited the 260-bed KDA divisional headquarters hospital on Saturday, but departed without making announcement of its upgradation and filling of 11 vacant posts of doctors, which deeply disappointed the doctors and people.

Mr Azam took a round of different sections of the hospital and the 35-kanal land allocated for the establishment of burns center. During his visit, the secretary was accompanied by district coordination officer Shahidullah Khan, executive district officer, health, Dr Shad Ali and medical superintendent Dr Imran.

The doctors and the people were expecting that Mr Azam would order the filling of 11 vacant posts of doctors and 16 of paramedical staff besides upgradation of the hospital from grade-B to grade-A, to ensure provision of facilities and smooth health service delivery.

MNA Khurshid Begum had already announced Rs20 million as initial grant for the burns center and assured that the provincial health department and she herself would provide more funds for the burn victims in case of financial problems. The PC-1 of the burns center had been completed, but work could not be started due to certain bureaucratic hurdles.

The secretary had earlier planned a visit to the Women and Children Hospital, established in 1952, which needed immediate repairs. The doctors and the members of the paramedics association kept waiting for the secretary to watch the dilapidated condition of the hospital, but he suddenly cancelled the visit.

At the children hospital the private rooms and open places had been occupied by NGOs and private ambulance services due to criminal neglect by the authorities concerned.

The KDA hospital was constructed in 1997, but it could not get due status, facilities and government funds. The apathy of the government could be judged from the fact that the CT scan machine had been sanctioned for it several years back, but it was yet to be installed.

Officials said that the KDA medical complex was designed to provide all modern treatment facilities under one roof to millions of people of the southern part of the province and reduce the rush on the Peshawar hospitals, but it was still under-staffed and its category had been changed thrice.On the day of its inauguration in September 2000 the hospital was placed in category A, but later the MMA lowered its status to category ‘C’ and announced that all machinery sanctioned for the KDA hospital be supplied to hospitals in Peshawar.

Following protests by the local parliamentarians and public representatives, then governor intervened and the government placed the hospital in category ‘B’ and then upgraded it to ‘A’ but without facilities. However, it was provided staff and budget according to the status of category ‘B’ hospital though successive governments promised to make it the best facility for the people of southern districts.

Due to lack of major facilities, people of the southern districts such as Dera Ismail Khan and Bannu had to go to Peshawar and Islamabad by risking the patients’ lives due to long distance and spending a lot of money.

The KDA hospital caters to the needs of the four tribal agencies, five frontier regions and several districts, which had poor health facilities.