Khost’s Nadir Shah Kot residents want 30-bed hospital activated

KHOST CITY (Pajhwok): The residents of Nadir Shah Kot district of southeastern Khost province say they lack access to enough health services and the government should make functional a 30-bed hospital built nine years ago in the district.

They said they have to take their patients to neighboring districts or Khost City, which is several kilometers away.

They demand of the government to make functional the 30-bed hospital and provide doctors, nurses and medical equipment to it in order to resolve their problems.

The 30-bed hospital in Nadir Shah Kot district was built on a three-acre land at a cost of 42 million afghanis nine years ago, but is yet to be made functional.

A resident of Nadir Shah Kot district, Hazir Mohammad, told Pajhwok that the previous government had many times promised to make operational the hospital, but it did not do so.

He said the incumbent government should make the hospital functional to resolve people’s health related problems.

“In addition to Nadir Shah Kot, patients from four other districts, Spera, Do Manda, Tani and Mandozi, are also brought here, but the available services are not enough. If this hospital becomes operational, these problems will be solved.”

Another resident, Shah Pur, told Pajhwok that families living in remote parts of the district could not transfer their patients to Khost city because they had to travel for many hours to reach there.

He said health services and staff at the district clinic were insufficient and could not cope with the high number of patients.

He said only one doctor was available at the district clinic which was daily visited by up to 250 patients. “We urge the caretaker government to activate the 30-bed hospital”.

Khost Information and Culture director Shabir Ahmad Osmani told Pajhwok the Public Health Department had provided personnel to all district clinics and hospitals according to its resources. Some of these clinics were funded by donors and others by the government, he said.

He said the government was working on a program to increase health personnel nationwide in future.

Public Health Director Dr. Fazal Karim Mandozi told Pajhwok they had received order from the Ministry of Public Health to activate the 30-bed hospital in Nadir Shah Kot district. He said the hospital would be made functional soon.

He added: “The letter has come to us, all works are done, we just have to submit it to organizations for funding and taking responsibility for the personnel.”

He hoped the hospital would be operational in the next two months and would provide standard health services to the people.

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