ANI
18 Nov 2023, 09:07 GMT+10
Islamabad [Pakistan], November 18 (ANI): All five public sector hospitals in Islamabad and Lahore's Shaikh Zayed Hospital may face a virtual standstill after the Finance Division rejected a request by the federal health ministry to provide Pakistani rupee (PKR) 11 billion for the smooth functioning of these hospitals, Dawn reported.
Dawn is a Pakistani English-language newspaper.
Already, salaries for a number of employees have been stopped and nurses at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) have been protesting for over a week now.
The labs of these hospitals will also soon stop functioning completely, as testing kits are running out of stock. Radiology tests are also being refused because films are not available, and medicines are being denied to patients as the tender amount has not been paid to companies, as per Dawn.
The hospitals and departments that will be affected because of the decision include five hospitals in the federal capital: Pims, Polyclinic, Federal General Hospital, National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (NIRM), dispensaries, basic health units, ancillary departments of the health ministry, and institutes.
Shaikh Zayed Hospital Lahore will also be affected as it is run with the funding of the federal health ministry.
The Finance Division has informed the health ministry in writing that, as per the preconditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), funds can only be released in case of a disaster.
Pakistan's health ministry last month requested the finance ministry to release a supplementary grant of PKR 11.096 billion for the smooth functioning of hospitals, organisations, and ancillary departments of the ministry.
The letter written by the Finance Division and available with Dawn stated: "M/O National Health Services' proposal for supplementary/technical supplementary grant for PKR 11.096 billion has been considered in Finance Division. As per commitment with the IMF, no supplementary grant for any additional unbudgeted spending over the parliamentary approved level in FY 2023-24 may be allowed until the formation of new Government (except if needed to respond to severe national disaster)."According to sources privy to developments, the refusal by the Finance Division will trigger a virtual disaster in hospitals run by the federal ministry and patients may not even get a single rupee's worth of medicines.
"We currently foresee a severe shortage of medicines as we don't have the amount to pay for the tenders and get the pending stocks released. Moreover, there is also a severe shortage of testing kits in labs, and X-ray films and other radiology tests are also in short supply," a hospital source told Dawn.
The source added that the situation may worsen further as a number of doctors, nurses, and other staff in the hospitals are either not getting their salaries or their salaries will be stopped next month because of the unavailability of funds.
"In the coming months, there might be a severe shortage of doctors, nursing staff, medicines, and facilities of tests, even in emergency departments may be stopped. If that situation cannot be called a disaster, then what else should be called?"Dawn tried to reach out to Pakistan's Ministry of National Health Services, but officials could not be reached for comment. (ANI)Get a daily dose of Africa Leader news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Africa Leader.
More InformationMOSCOW, Russia: This week, Russia became the first country to officially recognize the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan since...
CAIRO, Egypt: This week, both Hamas and Israel shared their views ahead of expected peace talks about a new U.S.-backed ceasefire plan....
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Trump administration has made public a visa decision that would usually be kept private. It did this to send...
MADRID, Spain: Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota and his younger brother, André Silva, have died in a car accident in Spain. Spanish...
LONDON, U.K.: An unrelenting heatwave sweeping across Europe has pushed early summer temperatures to historic highs, triggering deadly...
President Donald Trump's plans to build a space-based Golden Dome missile defense shield have drawn immediate criticism from China,...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: With just weeks to spare before a potential government default, U.S. lawmakers passed a sweeping tax and spending...
PARIS, France: Fast-fashion giant Shein has been fined 40 million euros by France's antitrust authority over deceptive discount practices...
PALO ALTO/TEL AVIV: The battle for top AI talent has claimed another high-profile casualty—this time at Safe Superintelligence (SSI),...
FRANKLIN, Tennessee: Hundreds of thousands of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles are being recalled across the United States due to a potential...
REDMOND, Washington: Microsoft is the latest tech giant to announce significant job cuts, as the financial strain of building next-generation...
LONDON UK - U.S. stock markets were closed on Friday for Independence Day. Global Forex Markets Wrap Up Friday with Greeback Comeback...