25 May 2017•Update: 25 May 2017
By Aamir Latif
MUZZAFERGARH, Pakistan
For Abdul Jabbar, an elderly farmer from the remote region of Muzaffargarh, it is difficult to pronounce the name of the new hospital near his home. To him is it simply “the Turkish hospital”.
However, for Abdul and tens of thousands of other Pakistanis, the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital has given them access to top class medical care for the first time in their lives.
“Previously, we had to travel to Multan even for minor surgery and other complications before the establishment of Turkish hospital,” he told Anadolu Agency, referring to the city around 32 kilometers (20 miles) from his home.
“It would not only cost us a lot but there would be long waiting at the government hospital due to the heavy rush.”
The general hospital, in Punjab province in northeast Pakistan, was opened in July 2014 after Turkey built and equipped it. Then it had 60 beds. It currently has 100 with plans to expand to 500 beds.
As he waited to see an eye specialist, Abdul, aged in his mid-70s, added: “This problem has now been resolved. We do not have to travel to Multan now. Everything is available here -- most importantly with dignity and honor.
“There are no queues or any other hassle. Everything is in order.
“I salute President Tayyip and his team. They are among few who helped us practically. This is very much like a modern private hospital but for totally free.”
The hospital was built after Erdogan, then Turkey’s prime minister and now its president, visited Muzaffargarh in 2010 after the region was hit by flooding.
As well as the medical facilities, Turkey also provided 400 homes to those displaced by the floods. These two housing projects are also named after Erdogan.
Hospital expansion
“A proper hospital was desperately needed in this locality,” Dr. Tasman Ibne Rasa said. “It has changed their lives.”
The Punjab government has now allocated a large parcel of land and funding for the hospital’s expansion, which will include a medical college and a nursing center, as well as around 400 new beds.
The additional facility is expected to cost in the region of $90 million and when it is finished it is anticipated that it will serve patients from other provinces.
Khatija Bibi, from Larkana, 400 km (250 miles) to the southwest in Sindh province, was waiting for gynaecological treatment when Anadolu Agency visited the hospital.
“This is her second visit in the last three months,” Rasa said. “She only has to bear the travel expense as she has a sister [living in Muzaffargarh].”
So successful has the hospital’s management proved that the government handed over responsibility for a 60-bed hospital in Lahore in December 2015.
The Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif Hospital - named after Punjab’s chief minister -- is the only child and mother hospital in the area and serves 400,000 people.
“I have visited a proper hospital for treatment of my child for the first time,” Kausar Shehnaz, a mother-of-two from a village near the Indian border, told Anadolu Agency. “Before, we used to visit local clinic or dispensary.”
“My village is located some 30 km [19 miles] away from all major government hospitals. It was not financially and physically possible for us to visit these hospitals, especially for those who have no relatives in the city.
“But now it has become easier for us to get proper and free-of-cost treatment for ourselves and our children.”
Hospital administrator Dr. Zahid Hashmi said the facility catered for up to 500 patients a day.
