KABUL - Afghanistan lower house of parliament—Wolesi Jerga (WJ) on Saturday summoned Minister of Public Health (MoPH), Dr. Suraya Dalil over what she was blamed of failure over poor healthcare centers services and increase in expired and low-quality medications’ import and offer in the market.

Lack of professional pharmacists, the selling of low-quality medicines, prescribing free medicines against money, absence of border healthcare centers, poor on-duty doctors’ punctuality and services, deficiency of morgues in hospital etc are among cases, the minister was accused of failure to manage.

An outspoken lawmaker from Kabul, Dr. Ramazan Bashardoost reproached the minister over what he said her incompetency leading to death of many patients even from unthreatening illness.

“In many provincial hospitals, there is neither doctors nor nurses after 1pm, with yet the minister of public health pay heed,” he said.

Another Lawmaker form southern Khost province, Mirbut Khan Mangal said the patients pay money for their surgery operation, but it doesn’t go the government budget. “Some state-run hospitals had changed into private ones, with nothing to be done for by the ministry.”

Some 90 percent of the private hospitals were subjugated by businessmen with no attention on the people health, he said.

According to him, the ministry had no still posed coordination with the ministry of finance to ask its required annual budget, alongside its insufficiency on its responsibility.

A female lawmaker from central Daikundi province, Nazifa Azimi said the locals had faced many problems in healthcare sphere as some pay 1,000 and some 2,000 afghanis fees to get their patients tested. She blamed the ministry for remaining short what should be done for the people since several years of the post.

But, Minister Dr. Dalil said the number of healthcare centers had increased compared to last years.

“At present there are 2,160 hospitals in the country, while in the past, few number, with poor services were activated,” she said adding her ministry had started several projects to build many others.

She rejected if her office had abandoned low-quality medicines offer in the market and said those expired pills had been collected.

She said this was the responsibility of the organs concerned to prevent the import of low-quality medications packed inside the neighboring countries and sent to Afghanistan.

To conclude, the upper house asked the minister of public health to offer her answers in writing and present to the assembly’s next session to be decided.

The Wolesi Jirga is also expected to summon the minister of higher education over some complaints about this year’s entry-test. (WNA)