Dialysis machine out of order for 10 months
CHITRAL: The dialysis machine at the District Headquarters (DHQ) hospital has been out of order for the last 10 months, forcing kidney patients to travel to Peshawar for availing the facility.
Coming from a distant village, Saiful Islam, a kidney patient, said after the breakdown of the machine in August 2019, he could go to Peshawar only four times for having dialysis, and afterwards his condition deteriorated as travelling to Peshawar along with an attendant was expensive which not everyone could afford twice a month.
He said he knew that many registered patients availing the DHQ hospital’s facility, could not go to Peshawar even for a single time due to financial problems.
Medical superintendent Dr Shamim Khan confirmed the breakdown of the machine since August 2019, and said one of its parts costing Rs400,000 had to be replaced, for which he had reported to the authorities, including the secretary and director general health.
He said the hospital had no budget available with it to repair the machine, adding he had also approached the Lower Chitral deputy commissioner in that regard.
Meanwhile, a source said procured in 2009, the dialysis machine was an old model which had long been replaced by the latest models with increased efficiency.
He said the dialysis machine went out of order frequently due to workload, adding there was no one in Chitral having know-how about the machine.