Page 124 - Muzaffargarh Gazzetteer
P. 124

DISTRICT HEADQUARTERS HOSPITAL
               The foundation stone of King Edward Memorial Hospital Muzaffargarh was
               laid by the then Lt. Governor of Punjab, Sir Louis Dane in February, 1912. It
               was built in next two years out of the public subscriptions, the sale proceeds
               of  the  old  site,  and  probably  grants  from  the  Government  to  the  District
               Board. The hospital was provincialised in 1928. In 1953, it was converted to
               the District Headquarters Hospital. It is spread over an area of 296 kanals
               and has a cumulative strength  of 356  beds. In  August  2017, a project of
               massive revamping was initiated, which is still under way.

               The allocated budget for the fiscal year 2018-19 has been Rs 435.7 million,
               for salaries, and Rs 243 millions for medicines and other expenditures. The
               DHQ has 5 modern and well-equipped operations theatres for the purposes
               of  General  Surgery  &  Allied,  Ortho,  Eye,  ENT  and  gynaecology.  On  an
               average,  50  operations  are  carried  out  in  its  operation  theatres  daily.
               Similarly, an average of 1800-2000 patients visits its OPD, whereas 1000-
               1100 patients are received in its emergency on daily basis.
               PREVALENCE OF DISEASES
               Among  the  diseases  prevalent  in  the  district,  acute  respiratory  tract
               infections took the largest share last year with more than 50,000 patients.
               Hypertension, diarrhea/dysentery, skin diseases (scabies, dermatitis), and
               diabetes are amongst the other common diseases. Around 44,000 psychiatric
               patients, mostly suffering from depression were also treated. Given the fact
               that  majority  of  the  psychiatric  patients  are  not  reported  due  to  social
               barriers as well lack of awareness, this is an alarming number. As regards
               road traffic accidents, the number of injured remained around 30,000. In
               addition, 1,955 cases of dog bites and 318 of snake bites were also reported.

               It was in 2011 that a polio case last surfaced in the district. The situation
               regarding Dengue was, however, alarming. Whereas, not even a single case
               was reported in 2018, over 60 cases were reported in first 10 months of 2019;
               only consolation is the fact that except for one patient reported in Jatoi, and
               another  in  Kot  Addu,  the  rest  of  the  patients  had  travel  history  from
               Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi and Lahore.

               RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN HOSPITAL
               Recep  Tayyip  Erdogan  Hospital  (RTEH)  is  a  400-bedded  tertiary  care,
               specialized and state of the art hospital located on National Highway (N-70)
               3 km towards the Dera Ghazi Khan. RTEH is owned and fully funded by
               Government of the Punjab and is managed by the Indus Hospital Karachi.
               RTEH has developed its reputation to be one of the best healthcare facilities
               in South Punjab in a very short span of time.
               It all started during the flood of 2010, when Turkish First Lady Mrs. Eimen
               Erdogan conducted a detailed visit of flood hit areas and promised a Mother


                                                                                      119
   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129