BAHAWALPUR - The patients at Bahawalpur Victoria Hospital are facing great difficulties due to shortage of doctors and medicines as one doctor is available for 250 patients and X-ray machine and other equipments are lying out of order.
Nearly 4,000 patients visit the Hospital daily with only 30 doctors available for them. MRI, Angiography, ECG and dialysis machines are out of order at the hospital and the administration is taking no interest in repairing these machines. However, most of the patients are referred to Multan and Lahore hospitals. Heart patients are forced to travel to Lahore for angiography while most of them cannot afford the expenses for going to Lahore. ECG machines at the emergency ward as well as other indoor and outdoor wards are out of order whereas CCU ward is facing shortage of the equipments that are used to monitor heart beat.
Likewise, MRI machine is dysfunctional since last week. The affected patients said that they had repeatedly told the administration about the problem but nothing has been done so far.
Furthermore, fees are being received for X-rays from them, the patients alleged. Only one orthopedic surgery ward is available and because of rush, the patients have to manage their own bed and they get space in verandas of the hospital.  Operations of these patients get delayed due to the rush and most of them go to some private health facility and pay heavy amount for treatment. But the poor cannot afford treatment from private hospitals and wait for their turn.
The local people were of the view that the Punjab chief minister termed Bahawalpur his second home but he is spending Rs80 billion on the Lahore Metro Bus System project while the people of Bahawalpur are deprived of the basic health facilities.
They demanded that the out-of-order equipments should be repaired and provision of medicines should be ensured at the earliest.
CALL FOR BIRTH REGISTRATION: The district administration and UNICEF have started a special campaign to educate the people for timely registration of births of their children in Bahawalpur.
This was stated by district officers Shahid Hameed and Aamir Naseem Khan while talking to the media. They said that the campaign has been started to spread awareness in this regard. Under the programme, walks and seminars will be held throughout the division at tehsil level.
First seminar will be held on December 3 in Bahawalpur. Shahid said that according to a  report, 43% of the people do not know how to get births registered and 15% people do not know where they have to go for registration..
He said that for this purpose, necessary directions had been given to the secretaries of union counsels. No fee will be charged for entering the name during the campaign, he added.
Four students booked: Four students booked for using unfair means in examination here the other day.
Superintendent Zafar Iqbal at Govt High School Bhowana Examination centre handed over four students included Mohammad Nawaz, Usman Haider, Allah Ditta, Ameer Abbas to police for using unfair means during English paper. The police have registered a case against them.
SIX HOSPITALISED: Six people including Syed Saqlain Shah, Ali Raza, Ahmad Ali Shah and Syed Wafa Shah were seriously injured after flagellation in a local Imambargah here the other day.  They were given first aid by Rescue-1122 and later, shifted to DHQ Hospital for further treatment.

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