A district headquarters hospital (50 beds) is functioning with limited staff and a limited supply of drugs. Only two lady doctors and two female nurses are serving in the district Headquarters hospital. Besides the District Headquarters Hospital, the existing health facilities include 2 Rural health Centre (RHCs) with 20 beds, 20 Basic Health units, 52 dispensaries, 3 Mother child health Centres, 1 TB centre, 2 school health units, and 4 EPI static centres. Apart from that 11 private clinics, 14 hakeems and 8 homeopathic doctors are also providing health care to the people.

The total staff working in the hospital and other health units of the district consists of 16 medical officers, 2 lady doctors, 2 specialists, 2 dentist, 2 nurses, 380 paramedics, 8 technicians and 480 supporting staff. Besides, 45 lady health workers are serving in the district under the Prime Minister Programme for Primary Health Care and Family Planning.

There is a general shortage of drugs and other medical supplies in the hospitals and dispensaries, particularly in the rural areas.

Female patients face even greater problems because the lady doctors are few and the women, due to their cultural background, don’t want to be treated by male doctors.

Waterborne diseases and those caused by bacteria are common due to poor standards of sanitation.

No official statistics regarding infant mortality are available, however, according to the local health authorities, it is 155 per thousand.

In Kalat district health services are provided at two levels: at primary level and district level. At primary level in the rural and remote areas Basic Health Units (BHU), Rural Health centres (RHC), dispensaries and Mother Child Health care Centre (MCHC) are serving. These centres provide essentially outpatient services. At district level a hospital provides all types of medical facilities. The immunization programme is carried out by EPI through their mobile units, outreach teams and 4 static centres. The Primary Health Care services also includes programmes for prevention of diseases and health education in the community. The health units also take care of minor illnesses and of the patients in case of emergency. The hospital provides indoor and outdoor health services. In Kalat the indoor and outdoor medical facilities are very limited due to shortage of medicines. The poor patients are unable to purchase the medicines from market. The BHU, RHC, MCH centres and dispensaries are serving directly under the supervision of District Health Officer (DHO), while the District Headquarters Hospital is under the supervision of Medical Superintendent.

In Kalat, the disease pattern changes with the season. The major diseases observed during summer are, jaundice, malaria, diarrhoea, gastro-enteritis and dysentery. R.T.I. is very common in the area during winter. The main reason for the incidence of these diseases is the lack of awareness among people regarding preventive measures. The poor unhygienic living conditions affect the health of children, leading to a high infant mortality rate. In many cases people visit the doctor or hospital only when the disease has already been present too long.

In 1995 the federal government launched the Prime Minister’s Programme for Family Planning and Primary Health Care (PMPFP PHC). The purpose of this programme is to provide basic health facilities to mother and children at their doorstep. A female health worker, belonging to the same area, is appointed for a population of one thousand people. At present 45 such lady health workers (LHW) are serving in the district. This programme is very effective in the remote areas where other medical facilities are not available. The Family Planning Association of Pakistan (FPAP) and First Primary Health Programme (FPHP) have also established their centres in Kalat. These organizations provide services for family planning and basic health care.

The health administration at district level is the same as in other districts of Balochistan. All the health services are supervised and controlled by the District Health Officer (DHO). The DHO is responsible for the functioning of the hospitals, dispensaries, RHC, BHU, MCHC etc. The DHO has also an additional responsibility of being the co-ordinator for the PMPFPPHC. In the District Headquarters hospital a Medical Superintendent works as the in-charge of the hospital, supported by doctors, nurses, paramedical and other staff.

The health facilities in the area are very limited, while drugs are not available in the hospital and health centres. The qualified doctors prefer not to serve in the rural areas, they always wish to serve in Quetta. In rural areas hardly any facilities are available to the medical staff. Coverage of prevention of health programme, e.g. EPI, CDD and ARI is very low.

In Kalat district the health services are far from adequate. The District Headquarters hospital has only 50 beds which by no means fulfils the requirement. It is also short of staff, medicines and other supplies.

The situation in the rural areas is even worse. The buildings of RHCs, BHUs, MCHs etc. are there but without staff and medicines. Doctors and other paramedical staff don’t like to perform their duties in such remote areas. They use the political influence to get transferred to the cities. Thus, the health facilities in the rural areas are extremely deficient. Government should take strong measures to overcome these deficiencies in the health system. Emphasis must also be placed on creating awareness among the masses about the preventive, rather than curative measures.

Back to Kalat