Controlling Infections - My Letter in Daily Times

My Letter in Daily Times (19th July 2010)

Controlling Infections [My letter in The Frontier Post and The Post]

My Letter, "Controlling Infections", published on Monday, 12th July,2010 in two English Dailies of Pakistan, i.e., The Post and The Frontier Post.

Something Like PPHI in Education Sector

People's Primary Healthcare Initiative (PPHI), the program that has reopened the closed rural health facilities, and till now many poor people of rural areas have got improved delivery of health services at their door steps.

Before PPHI, in rural areas, there were closed and non functional health facilities, shortage of doctors and other paramedical staff, no budgets, no lady doctors, no facility of mobile ultrasound, no punctuality in medical and paramedical staff, detoriated infrastructure, no telephone connectivity, no community participation & awareness efforts, no vaccines for dog and snake bite, and no working maternity homes.

But after PPHI, all health care centers in rural areas are now turned functional, new energetic and young Doctors and paramedical staff is appointed on contract basis, punctuality and work is monitored, lady doctors are available, Ultrasound facility is available, infrastructure is reconstructed, new furniture is given, wireless telephone connectivity is available, community participation and awareness programs in schools are held every week, vaccines and medicines are now available and Maternity Homes are working like never before.

The success of this program can be judged by the fact that the OPD turn over has increased to 255%. The pictorial album and facts figures are available at their website.

I have personally seen few Health centers. one of my relatives contract was not renewed just because she was absent for consecutive 5 days without any application, this shows that doctors are well monitored and strictness is present.

Now, govt should start the similar program with same goals and plans in Education Sector, it will really benefit the poor cihldren of rural areas. All those improvements which came after PPHI, are really needed in Education side also.

HYDERABAD WEEPS FOR PUBLIC TOILETS

(Need of Public Toilets)

Hyderabad, one of the biggest, oldest and important cities of Pakistan, lacks a very basic amenity – Public Toilets. It is therefore no unusual to see well dressed men urinating at roadsides, especially where it is written that, “peeing here is not allowed”. Now a day you will see that some village women are also doing this.

Government is spending a lot of money in constructing Flyovers but cant spend some money in building Public Toilets, and due to lack of this basic need, every place has become a public toilet. I want to call upon the attention of those government employees who are responsible for taking care of Hygiene of this city, that come and see how people have made the various corners of civil hospital a public toilet. This was the only one example, but there are many other examples also where people have made a clean place as unhygienic. This leads to an environment where vectors like flies can easily perform a role in spreading the diseases, like Typhoid and Hepatitis.


Lack of public toilets is one of the factors behind the increasing number of Water borne diseases. Diarrhea (water borne disease) is responsible for deaths of 1.8 million people every year globally (WHO). According to WHO, 88% burden of disease is attributable to unsafe water supply, sanitation and hygiene, and is mostly concentrated in children in developing countries.


You may find a few public toilets, but they are so unhygienic that people prefer roadsides over these dirty toilets. So along with making a plan of building public toilets, do make a plan for keeping them clean. Hyderabad weeps for public toilets and hopes that the authorities will come to its aid soon enough.

13th-november-2009