Sehwan tragedy highlights dismal state of Sindh health infrastructure

KARACHI: The devastating terrorist attack on the shrine of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan claimed 88 innocent lives and wounded more than 300 people. But the tragedy has called attention to yet another crisis, one linked not to terrorism but to governance.

The suicide bombing not only injured hundreds, those injured were left in a woeful state as they could not get any immediate first aid. According to reports, the absence of medical facilities in Sehwan left a large number of wounded unattended for hours without any medical treatment whatsoever, leading to a significant rise in the death toll.

Even the nearest hospital from the shrine – which receives hundreds of thousands of visitors every week – was between 40 and 50 kilometres away.

The injured were either taken to Dadu, Nawabshah, or Hyderabad.

Nearest to Sehwan, the hospital in Dadu lies at a distance of 49km, taking at least 50 minutes to travel. Nawabshah is further away, being at a distance of 95km from the shrine, and it took around one and a half hour for the injured to be shifted there.

It took around two long hours to transfer the injured to Jamshoro, due to the latter being at a distance of 134km. Several wounded might have perished on the way.

Hospitals aside, there were even are no ambulances available in Sehwan for the transfer of the wounded. The injured were shifted to hospitals on motorcycles, Qingqi-rickshaws, and private vehicles.

This is one of the main reasons that the public put forth countless grievances in front of former Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah when he visited the Civil hospital in Karachi on Friday.

For the past eight years, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has been in power in Sindh the province, but it has so far failed to provide even the most basic of facilities like roads, hospitals, and medical staff to the province's resident.

Rural parts of the province have borne the brunt of what appears to be the ruling party's negligence.

There is a dire need of an emergency hospital in Sehwan as hundreds throng to the Sufi saint's shrine on a daily basis for a spiritual journey.

If not because of a terrorist attack, there could be several other accidents which may require an immediate need for hospitals and medical staff.

Moinuddin, the medical superintendent at the Taluka Hospital in Sehwan, acknowledged the need of at least 95 doctors, and that there were only 10 physicians posted at the hospital and only one surgeon available.

"There is no question that there is a shortage of doctors all over Sindh. There is a dire need of doctors in Sehwan," he said speaking to Geo News.

"You can see the condition of the hospital and the morgue. Even the only surgeon is a urology surgeon, not a general surgeon," he said.

The most surprising fact is that Sehwan is the constituency of the serving chief minister of Sindh, Syed Murad Ali Shah. The chief minister's native village is also at a short distance from the shrine.

Murad Ali Shah's father Abdullah Shah served as the provincial chief minister from 1993 to 1996, but he also failed to provide basic medical facilities to the resident of his area.

In 2012, a trauma centre was built in the area, but the medical facility has not become operational as yet.