5th Semester

Congestion of Medical Facilities in Peshawar City

Proposed Distribution of Medical Facilities in the City of Peshawar
Current Situation of the existing medical facilities in the city, the methodologies to be employed for the mitigation of the problem, the sectoral and cross-sectoral approaches and the proposed recommendations for improvement of health facilities in Peshawar.

Group Members:-

Hassan Zahid Usman Jilani Fawad Ali Amir Iftikhar Hazrat Ali Anis Uzair

1. Problem Identification
Congestion of Health Facilities in Peshawar City

2. Current Situation
The City of Peshawar is 2500 years old. The Health facilities of the city have been congested in the Dabgari Area of the city. All the private practice of the doctors of the city is situated over here. Its a thriving place and patients from Charsadda, Nowshera, Mardan & Tribal Areas come here for medical check-up along with the local residents of the city. Transport Congestion There is transport congestion in the area as Dabgari Garden is situated besides the Dabgari Gate of Peshawar City and roads leading to it from Saddar Bazar (used by residents of Hayatabad, University Town, Tehkal, Tribal Areas and Saddar itself),and from other side by Residents of Charsadda, Nowshera & Other Districts, Hashtnagri etc. Lack of Facility in other Localities of the City There is dearth of medical facilities in other parts of the city and nonavailability of doctors in the city. The medical facility is not spread evenly in the entire city. In the late 80s Hayatabad Medical Complex and Sherpao Hospitals were made functional and thus reducing load on Lady Reading Hospital but private practice of Doctors still persisted in the Dabgari Garden of the city and has thrived and is thriving. For a medical check-up, the residents of the entire city have to move towards one destination-The Dabgari Gardens Noisy Area & Pollution Its a compact area and thus it is very noisy due to car traffic, horn honking etc. and thus pollution in the area due to car smoke etc. thus it is not providing the optimum level of health facilities to the patients. Non Availability of Space & High Prices The Dabgari Gardens is now full to the brink and there is no new place for the new clinics to be setup. The doctors have been pushed deep in
1|Page

the old Dabgari Bazaar of the old city to continue their medical practice thus resulting in worsening of the medical standards. Commercial & Residential Activity Nearby There is a lot of commercial and residential activity going nearby in the area. There are residential areas, Dabgari Bazaar, Shoba Bazaar, Dry Port of the city, Car Repairing Workshops etc. which have an adverse effect.

3. Methodology
SECTORAL APPROACH:Widening of Roads, Constructing Multi-Story Building.(Method C) CROSS-SECTORAL APPROACH:The cross-sectorial approach that can be employed for the improvement of the current scenario are as followings:A. Creating a New Medical City. B. Distribution of Medical Facilities in the City. All the above mentioned methods of improvement of the health facilities have their own pros and cons. Method A is feasible but again the medical facilities would not be distributed in the entire city and in times of emergency the closest facility would be at a far-away distance and also traffic congestion can result in the future if not now. A very large area of land would be required for clinics, laboratories and parking facilities. Method B is feasible as the medical facilities will be distributed in the entire city. There would be no traffic congestion in the city and problem of parking facilities. Method C is not feasible as though, with the construction of multi-story building a large number of clinics would be made and thus reduction in rents etc. would result in along with provision of better health facilities but at the same time the problem of traffic congestion in the entire city would persist. This is a short sighted approach that is to be employed on short term basis only.
2|Page

4. Recommendation
It is thereby recommended to Distribute the Medical Facilities in the Peshawar City. The health facilities of the city that are now congested in the city (Dabgari Garden) should be bifurcated and distributed in the entire city at a minimum of 2 places and a maximum of 4 places. As for private medical check-up, the entire city flocks towards the Dabgari gardens and thus traffic blocks, noise pollution result in but with the distribution of the medical facilities in the city at two or three places say one at existing Dabgari Gardens, Second facility on University Road & Third facility at entrance of Peshawar City for out of town residents. The government should take concrete steps for the proper implementation that all the doctors should be placed at their proper location and the patients of the locality closest to the facility should be treated and not of far off localities. For example, the medical facility situated at University Road should not accept patients of Saddar Bazaar and they should be referred to Dabgari Garden Facility. Also the medical hospitals such as Rehman Institute, North West Hospital should setup their branches on all the three proposed medical facilities with the financial help of the government.

*End*

3|Page