Daily Times

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Mian Saqib Nisar on Saturday said that the poor condition of medical facilities in the country is a failure of state.

Addressing an event at the National Institute of Heart Diseases in Rawalpindi, the chief justice remarked, “Patients do not have access to better health facilities. The state of hospitals is such that there are three patients on one hospital bed.”

“There is a need to improve the state of hospitals and a lot of other things in the country,” the chief justice stressed.

The top judge lamented, “Medical facilities are only available for the wealthy. I have tried to play a role in improving medical facilities.”

“It is the responsibility of the government to provide funds for health facilities and judges have also given advice repeatedly for the improvement of hospitals,” he added.

“I saw the critical condition of hospitals in Punjab and saw three people lying on a single hospital bed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The poor condition of medical facilities in the country is a failure of state and it is the government’s responsibility to improve them,” Justice Nisar further said.

Justice Nisar continued, “It is unfortunate that there is no facility in the country for the liver transplantation of children.”

“Why can’t doctors be appointed as provincial health secretaries?” he questioned. “Such officers should be appointed who are aware of the issues. The culture of favours needs to end and all work should be done on the basis of merit,” the top judge stressed.

The chief justice further said that Ra s22 million were spent on Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI) but it did not have basic facilities. For improvements in the healthy system, more work will need to be done.”

“We have issued guidelines for the machinery present in hospitals. Now, it is the executive’s responsibility to implement the law fully. The Supreme Court will fully cooperate for improvements in the health sector,” he added.

Published in Daily Times, December 9^th 2018.