Row over hospitals’ control as cases spike

ISLAMABAD: While coronavirus cases have increased by more than 100,000 in the past three weeks with many patients being “denied” of treatment due to lack of facilities, the Centre’s sudden change of mind after a year to take over three major hospitals of Sindh has stirred a controversy over their control and funding, which may further affect the fight against the pandemic.

Over the past 24 hours, the novel coronavirus claimed at least 141 lives and affected 5,948 more people, taking the death toll to 3,436 and the national tally of cases to 174,676.

In response to the last week’s letter of the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) asking the Sindh government to hand over the possession/control of the three major hospitals, Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho has requested the federal government to withdraw its letter and work with the provincial government to focus on Covid-19.

She informed Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza that the provincial government had allocated Rs16.2 billion in the budget for the three hospitals, which was far more than the federal government’s allocation of Rs9.9 billion for the hospitals, while the Centre’s allocation was even less than the total allocation for these hospitals in the last financial year.

However, Dr Mirza said, the federal government had to take over the hospitals on the Supreme Court orders of last year. He said over Rs14bn was allocated for the hospitals, which would be controlled and run by the federal government.

Sindh requests Centre to focus on Covid-19 instead of taking over state-of-the-art hospitals

The Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) and National Institute of Child Health (NICH) in Karachi and Sheikh Zayed Postgraduate Medical Institute in Lahore were devolved to the provinces under the 18th Constitutional Amendment.

In January 2019, the Supreme Court ordered the federal government to take control of the hospitals. However, the federal cabinet in July 2019 decided not to take over the hospitals from provincial government.

Dr Pechuho in her reply to Dr Mirza reminded him that according to the Supreme Court order, the federal government had to reimburse the amount spent by the provincial government from 2011 till date. Yet she urged the federal government to withdraw its letter and direct its efforts towards the fight against coronavirus to provide relief to the people.

“It is most pertinent to mention here that the Government of Sindh has invested billions of rupees in the development and improvement of these hospitals, which now provide quality state-of-the-art treatment, free of cost to patients coming from all over the country. It is our solemn belief that health-related issues are of paramount importance and we are continuing our endeavours to further improve and expand our health facilities,” her letter stated, adding that the federal government’s attempt regarding these hospitals would work as impediment in fight against Covid-19.

While talking to Dawn, Dr Mirza said that after the apex court order, the federal government had to take over the hospitals. “Hospitals were built by the federal government in the 1960s and 1970s but handed over to the provinces after 18th Constitutional Amendment. In fact employees had contacted the court demanding that the hospitals should be given to the federal government and the court gave decision in their favour. Moreover, we have allocated Rs14 billion for the hospitals which will be taken over by the federal government,” he said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan appreciated the role of overseas philanthropists for the support of patients suffering with Covid-19.

“I appreciate the philanthropic role played by the Overseas Pakistani community in helping their brothers and sisters abroad during Covid-19. There are many examples where the Pakistani community has been a source of inspiration, helping those around in need,” he tweeted.

Dr Mirza told Dawn that positive results of smart lockdown were visible, as number of cases had already dropped in the federal capital. “Moreover, we have started working on build-up of the health sector. Though the projection of cases is so far unchanged but we have been hoping that soon we will be in a position to reduce the number of projected cases,” he said.

However, federal Minister for Planning, Development, Reforms and Special Initiatives Asad Umar while chairing the meeting of the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) on Covid-19 expressed the hope that the efforts and measures [smart lockdowns] taken to contain the pandemic outbreak would show results after 15 days.