Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar Monday questioned ‘tall claims’ by the Khyber Pakhtunkhawa government about the situation of healthcare sector and sought a report on the condition of medical facilities in the province within two months.
“On what basis are such tall claims made? You only say that everything has been made great,” the chief justice asked KP health secretary during hearing of a case regarding waste management in the hospitals of the province.
Speaking of his earlier visit to a mental health facility in Peshawar, the chief justice said the facility was in a poor state and patients at the hospital were being treated inhumanely. “They were locked up like animals, it seemed like people had forgotten these patients were human too,” he said. “If you don’t believe me, shall we visit these facilities?” he asked the secretary.
The secretary claimed that there has been an improvement after the court order. “The medicines you pointed out are also being provided now,” he added.
During the hearing, the court was told that a total of 63 government hospitals in the province create 4,000 kilogrammes of waste every day, but the province has the capacity to dispose of 3,600kg of waste. The 158 private hospitals, the court was informed, create 860kg of waste, of which 532kg is disposed of. “Measures are being taken to create the capacity to dispose off all the waste created by hospitals,” said the health secretary.
At this, Justice Ijazul Ahsan remarked, “Even now, 480kg of medical waste is not disposed in KP hospitals.” The chief justice added, “Provincial government has failed to make arrangements for proper disposal of waste.” When Justice Ijazul Ahsan said, “We have given you till December 2019 to ensure proper disposal of medical waste,” the health secretary replied, “We will try our best to make sure the matter is resolved by June next year.”
Published in Daily Times, December 4th 2018.
