MULTAN: Because no nation can advance without placing emphasis on them, health and education are regarded as the two primary criteria for setting a nation on the global route to growth and prosperity.
The level of education and health care offered and the amount of money the government spends on these two areas serve as indicators of a nation’s quality of life for its population.
Punjab, the province with the largest population, requires additional medical facilities to accommodate its expanding population. In its southernmost region, which includes Multan, Bahawalpur, and DG Khan, 32 percent (34.7 million) of the country’s population lives, the majority of whom are located in rural regions.
It has District Headquarter, Tehsil Headquarters, Basic Health Units (BHUs), Rural Health Centres (RHCs), and dispensaries in addition to Tertiary Care Teaching Hospitals in major towns to serve its rural population.
The largest hospital in South Punjab, Nishtar Hospital, has 1700 beds. Multan is also home to the Children Complex, Multan Institute of Kidney Diseases (MIKD), Shehbaz Sharif Hospital, Pak Italian Modern Burn Unit, Fatima Jinnah Hospital, and a few public town hospitals that serve patients from all over the region.
As the sole general hospital in Multan and the geographic centre of the nation, patients from South Punjab as well as Balochistan and KPK flood into Nishtar Hospital.
According to Mahar Hayat Lak, secretary of the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department of South Punjab, BHUs were operating around-the-clock and provided services for students screening, emergency, preventive services (immunisation), ultrasound, and outpatient departments (OPD).
Rural South Punjab is home to 578 BHUs, 112 RHCs, and 380 dispensaries in terms of health facilities.
He said that in addition to the ECG, Dental, X-Ray, MLC, and TB clinics operating at RHCs, as many as 1034 ambulances were attending to patients in rural regions.
Both Victoria Hospital Bahawalpur and the 200-bed Sardar Fateh Muhammad Khan Buzdar Institute of Cardiology in DG Khan have long provided medical care for the local population.
According to Lak, the Punjab government invested billions of rupees on the region’s health infrastructure, particularly when the South Punjab Secretariat was established. He also said that modern equipment and the availability of medications were the primary priorities.
“A healthy body carries a healthy mind, and of course, health is the real wealth,” the secretary said.
The P&SHC department’s main priorities, according to him, are “facilitating people at their doorsteps, monitoring and evaluating service delivery mechanisms, improving service delivery in all health centres, and zero tolerance on quackery prevalent in South Punjab.”
Clinicians contend that poor water quality, excessive use of salt and drinks, particularly in South Punjab’s rural regions, are to blame for a significant number of patients suffering from renal disorders. South Punjab is known as the “stone belt.”
The Multan Institute of Kidney Diseases (MIKD) is a dedicated institution that is nothing short than a godsend for patients from both urban and rural populations in South Punjab, even though urology wards are a part of DHQs, THQs, and other public hospitals in the area.
Dr. Masoodur Rauf Hiraj, president of the Pakistan Medical Association and a well-known surgeon, said that it is a known truth that aspiring physicians choose cities over rural areas.
In addition to encouraging young physicians to serve in rural regions as part of their professional obligations, he said that the PMA also made attempts to address any concerns that may have arisen.
In order to treat people’s illnesses more effectively, he urged that the government construct facilities specifically for viral and other ailments.
Although the South has general hospitals, specialised hospitals are also required to improve the region’s overall health infrastructure.Dr. Hiraj made a note.
The 2014-built Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital (RTEH) Muzaffargarh is a tertiary care facility with 400 beds that serves a large number of patients from surrounding districts of the city. Its expansion began in 2017 and was finished the following year.
Locally known as Turkey Hospital, the healthcare facility is distinguished by the fact that each patient’s meal is prepared according to the doctor’s or nutritionist’s recommendations.
According to Dr. Kashif Chishti of the Dean Children Complex in Multan, there are considerably less children’s hospitals in the area than what is needed. He said that parents bring their children to the hospital from remote locations for treatment.
The number of children’s hospitals in the area has to be increased by the government. In Multan, a new mother and child care hospital was being built, and other hospitals had paediatric units, but they are still inadequate, he bemoaned.
In South Punjab, each district has a District Health Development Centre where professionals get training to enhance their services at BHUs, RHCs, and dispensaries. These professionals include physicians, nurses, Lady Health Workers (LHWs), paramedics, and vaccine providers.
Pulmonologist and DHDC Multan Programme Coordinator Dr. Asif Nasrullah said that UNICEF and WHO were actively working to improve South Punjab’s health infrastructure as well as the nation’s overall health infrastructure.
He said that the immunisation programme for COVID-19 and the polio vaccine for children was ongoing at DHDC.
He said that the training facilities were crucial in producing master teachers who could instruct others at BHUs, RHCs, etc.