Soon Valley residents say life-saving treatment 60km away is costing them their health, savings
KHUSHAB:
Hundreds of kidney patients in Tehsil Nowshera are caught in a worsening health crisis as the region continues to function without a single dialysis centre.
With no local treatment available, patients must endure a grueling 60-kilometer journey along rough, mountainous roads to Khushab several times a week, an exhausting and risky ordeal that has become their only lifeline.
Educationist Malik Usman Ghazi Awan told Express that the 60 kilometer rocky and bumpy route from Nowshera to Khushab is a severe test for any weak patient.
Kidney patients who already struggle with extreme weakness, shortness of breath and fatigue must make this dangerous journey two to three times a week. The one-way trip can take up to two hours.
“After dialysis, when their bodies are completely drained, the shocks of the journey home and long waits break them even more,” he said.
Families of several patients say their loved ones’ health deteriorates not inside the hospital, but during this punishing journey.
The crisis is not only physical, but also financial. Small farmers and laborers spend thousands of rupees every other day on transport and fuel, an amount that often exceeds the cost of dialysis itself.
Many households in the valley have been financially destroyed; jewelry and ancestral land have been sold just to keep up with the relentless 60-kilometer cycle of suffering.
Political and social figure Malik Saleem Awan said the “most shameful role” in this tragedy is that of the elected representatives and the tehsil administration.
“The people who were supposed to be their voice never raised this issue on the Assembly floor or took serious steps to secure emergency funding,” he said. “They only show up to ask for votes. When people need life-saving action, they treat the file like a worthless piece of paper.”
He added that priority has repeatedly been given to personal interests and construction projects with higher “commission potential,” revealing what he described as “acute incompetence and moral bankruptcy.”
Saleem Awan said that though Nowshera’s THQ Hospital already has the space and basic infrastructure for a dialysis unit, tehsil-level officers have shown “criminal negligence” by delaying the file every time with the excuse of “no funds”, despite knowing that such delays could result in deaths on the road.
Social activist Malik Shehbaz Awan questioned the Punjab government’s silence and called it alarming.
“Despite loud calls for health reforms, why is the provincial government ignoring the basic right to treatment for nearly 200,000 residents of Nowshera?” he asked.
“The people demand that the Chief Minister and the Provincial Health Minister take immediate notice and release emergency funds. Patients cannot endure another day of this deadly journey.”
He said that the people of Soon Valley are now pinning their hopes on an influential figure belonging to the valley, Advocate General of Pakistan Malik Mansoor Usman Awan.
As a native of the region, he is well aware of the area’s geographical and economic difficulties.
The locals are appealing to him to personally intervene and use his influence to persuade the Punjab government to establish a dialysis center without delay.
“The people consider him their true representative,” said Shehbaz. “One strong voice from him can end this collective suffering and ensure the immediate installation of dialysis machines at THQ Nowshera. This is the time for him to repay his homeland.”
When contacted, Khushab’s CEO Health Dr. Saima Ikram that there is no official plan, approval or documentation for establishment, expansion or operationalization of a dialysis unit at Nowshera’s THQ Hospital.
