SWAT: Residents, including civil society representatives and political activists, held a demonstration here on Monday, demanding that the government immediately appoint medical and other staff to Divisional Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital in Swat to make it fully operational.
The protesters said people were facing severe difficulties accessing medical treatment. They maintained that the hospital, if fully functional, would not only benefit residents of Swat but also patients arriving from various parts of Malakand division.
Former district nazim Mohammad Ali Shah, Jamiat Ulema-i-1slamFazl district general secretary Ijaz Khan, Jamaat-iIslami’s Akhtar Ali Khan, Traders Federation general secretary Dr Khalid Mahmood, Qaumi Taroon Jirga’s Haji Ishaq Zahid, Awami National Party’s Ikram Khan were among those who attended the protest.
The protesters said they would not remain silent over public health issues and would continue their joint struggle to secure the people’s basic right to healthcare. The protesters also announced they would launch a protest movement from Wednesday to press the government to accept their demands. As part of the programme, they said, protest camps would be organised outside the health secretary’s office and Saidu Hospital.
They threatened to expand the protest if the government failed to make practical progress on their demands.