QUETTA: The Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP) has strongly condemned the provincial government’s decision to declare Sandeman Provincial Hospital (Civil Hospital) and Bolan Medical Complex (BMC) Quetta as autonomous bodies, terming the move as equivalent to depriving the poor of basic healthcare facilities .
In a press release issued by the party’s provincial secretariat, the PKMAP expressed deep sorrow and regret over the notification, which it said would effectively privatize two of the province’s largest government hospitals established to serve underprivileged patients. Sandeman Provincial Hospital was founded during the British era, while Bolan Medical Complex was established during the tenure of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto specifically for poor and needy patients of the province .
The party openly condemned what it described as an “anti-people move” by the provincial government, stating that granting autonomous status to these institutions is tantamount to taking away government treatment and basic health facilities from the poor .
According to the party’s statement, millions of residents of Quetta city as well as poor people from all other districts of Balochistan rely on Civil Hospital and BMC Hospital for their medical treatment. The health department, the party claimed, has already reached the brink of collapse, with patients lacking access to basic facilities .
“The remaining gap has been filled with the notification of privatization,” the statement read, warning that the move would make healthcare expenses nearly impossible for the common man.
