KP healthcare programme blamed for pneumonia outbreak

CHITRAL, March 26: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Primary Healthcare (KPPH) programme has been blamed for the spread of pneumonia in Khot area of upper Chitral which claimed 16 lives of children over a period of one month. Talking to this correspondent here, District Health Officer Dr Israrullah said the basic health unit of Khot valley was being run by KPPH which ignored the situation as the doctor as well as the paramedical staff were absent from the station. He said that timely action could have saved the children from being perished of pneumonia which attacked the population and infected the infant and the neonatal while the valley was still shrouded in three feet snow which caused intense cold. Dr. Israrullah said that he rushed to the valley when he got the report of a large number of loss of lives and encamped there for two days along with his medical team and medicines and took steps to contain the spreading of disease. He said that the KPPH staff was still unavailable in the area while he found the staff in the basic health units of other villages absent from their duties and has apprised the higher authorities about the truancy. MPA from Chitral, Fouzia Bibi also criticized the KPPH for its total negligence in the area and said she will approach the provincial government seeking stern action against the district support manager and others. She said that 22 basic health units in the district had been contracted out to the KPPH (formerly known as PPHI) for providing better healthcare facilities but it proved counterproductive as seen in the Khot valley. She said that necessary and quick steps were taken when the matter came to her knowledge and made the district health officer to rush to the rescue of the people. Ms Fozia also admonished the Aga Khan Health Service for its failure to address the situation as it ran the nearest secondary healthcare system to the affected village in Shagram. When the district manager of KPPH, Colonel (retired) Dr. Fazle Rahim, was contacted by this correspondent to know his version, he admitted that he was not aware of the situation in Khot valley until some days ago. He said that he was coordinating with the district health department and will send doctors and medicines to the affected area. The provincial director of KPPH, Shakeel Ahmed, was not available as he had proceeded to Saudi Arabia to perform Umra while the manager (human resource) acting in place was also found unaware of the situation in Khot valley. Meanwhile, the manager (admin) of Aga Khan Health Service, Raheemullah, said that his organization had reached the Khot valley and reinforced the efforts of providing medical cover to the affected. “We provided blankets to the infant and the neonatal and the necessary medicines were also being distributed,” he said, adding that they had also reached the adjacent village of Rech where some cases of pneumonia had been reported.–Zahiruddin  ]]>