LAHORE: Healthcare and education are the two basic facilities gauging the status of any country. Absence or inefficiency of these two sectors can swing any country’s status from first world to a third world. Amid the deteriorating healthcare situation in the province, a startling correlation between healthcare and education sectors has been revealed.
A country where there have been a total of 491 bomb blasts and above 1,311 deaths in year 2016, paramedic teams cannot be considered anything less than comic book heroes. Paramedics are healthcare professionals, usually engaged in pre-hospital treatments, in an environment where a proper medical facility is absent or is too far away for individuals in need of immediate medical treatment. Ranging from ambulance operators to first aid workers, all come under the same umbrella. However, on the contrary, situation of paramedic schools does sound very comical, as Punjab Medical Faculty recently revealed a list of 81 paramedical schools, operating in 20 different districts of Punjab without any credible certification from government’s regulatory body. These districts include Lahore, Faisalabad, Jhang, Multan, Guljanwala, Shiekhupura, Okara, Khanewal, DG khan, Rahim Yar Khan and others.
It is pertinent to mention that all paramedical schools/colleges, either public or private, are required to be affiliated with Punjab Health Faculty or Pharmaceutical Council, as the case may be.
These paramedical schools have been warned and discredited by the Punjab government but still they remain operational, not only ruining paramedic practices with ill-trained individuals, but also ruining the future of the students.
Discrediting these schools is not a solution to this problem, until or unless government intervenes and forcefully shuts them down. All of the students should be transferred into credible and certified paramedic schools on government’s behalf.
Citing the above mentioned situation, the Punjab Ombudsman has taken serious notice of the shameful healthcare practices and directed the executive district officers (health) to raid or conduct a survey of all paramedical institutions functioning unlawfully. He directed the health officials to submit
