Nov 07, 2019

Sindh: Children Hardest Hit by Inefficient Health System


According to the Sindh Health Department, children are the bracket of the population most affected by malnutrition and the various diseases plaguing the province. Particularly concerning is the spread of the HIV virus, mainly due to the reuse of syringes at local clinics and districts health hospitals. With officials being accused of negligence due to their lack of qualifications and experience in their respective fields, misgovernance in Sindh has become a point of increasing concern.

 

The article below was published by Global Village Space:

 

According to data released by the Sindh Health Department, over 84 children have died over the past month in Tharparkar due to malnutrition and various other diseases. This has raised serious questions about the state of governance in Sindh where, in recent days, the case of aid were on the rise.

Statistics revealed that the children to have died due to malnutrition were as young as several months old to five years old. As compared to reports from prior months, the number of infant and young children’s deaths in October has been considerably high. In total, 703 children have died due to malnutrition and different diseases to date in 2019.

AIDS in Sindh

A report by the Director-General (DG) Health, Sindh, Dr Masood Solangi, on the spread of the HIV in Larkana’s Rotodero district has revealed startling facts. According to the report, over 14,000 people in the Rotodero district were screened out of which 534 tested positive for the HIV virus.

Of these patients, 270 were female and 264 male. The age group distribution revealed the most affected age group was 2-5, years with 294 (55.05%) cases, followed by age group 6-15 years with 100 (18.7%) cases. According to the Program Manager of Sindh’s AIDS Control Program, Dr Sikander Ali, the prime object for the spread of the virus was the reuse of syringes at local clinics and districts health hospitals.

Dr Masood Solangi further stated that screening is going on at THQ Hospital, Ratodero by SACP. It is feared that more cases of HIV may appear as the screening is going on. Experts opine that since the population is of a larger scale and fake doctors generally do not care about used or new syringes in the local hospital, it may cause a great loss.

Bad Governance in Sindhi

This is not the first glaring example of misgovernance in Sindh. Last year, the Sindh local government department reverted 11 officials from BS-17 and BS-16 to BS-5 and BS-4. Through a notification dated September 6, local government secretary Khalid Hyder Shah reverted 11 officials of HMC and sent back one of them to his parent department.

According to a notification, the decision had been taken on the directions of the Supreme Court-mandated Water Commission. “… on the recommendations of the inquiry report submitted by Additional Secretary (Admin) and in light of the minutes of the meeting held on August 29, 2018, under the chair of Commissioner Hyderabad and (further) in compliance with the Supreme Court’s order passed in criminal original petition 89/2011 on June 12, 2013,” the notification cited.

The BS-18 legal adviser Mukaram Khan has been reverted to BS-5 Typist, BS-17 health director Rafique Ahmed Rajput to BS-5 Junior Clerk, BS-17 taxation officer Abdul Wahab Rajput to BS-1 Naib Qasid, BS-17 Prosecuting Officer Altaf Baig to BS-5, BS-17 Chief Fire Officer Muhammad Yonus to BS-5 and BS-17 Assistant Director Health Aqeel Ahmed Khanzada to BS-6.

Similarly, two BS-16 office superintendents and a BS-16 assistant director for land have been moved back to BS-6 and BS-5 grades. One of them, Abdul Muqeem Shaikh, was sent back to his parent department – the District Council Hyderabad. According to media reports, 11 officers were reverted to the grades in which they were posted in 1994. According to another notification, the HMC has been directed to form a departmental promotion committee and process the promotion cases in accordance with the rules.

The water commission had ordered an inquiry into the promotions of these officials on July 5th, following which the inquiry committee on August 29 concluded its findings and recommended the reversions. According to sources, most of the reverted officers lacked qualification and experience in their respective fields. Rafique Ahmed Rajput, who was working as BS-17 health director, was posted as secretary to the mayor.

 

Photo courtesy by The New York Times: