Karachi- Enduring the promise to better the lives of host communities of Tharparkar, Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) has engaged a highly reputable philanthropic health service provider, the Indus Hospital to take functioning of its on-site free Mother and Child Clinic situated in Thar Coal Block II. SECMC has entered an agreement with The Indus Hospital on Tuesday which was signed by SECMC CEO, Mr. Shamsuddin Shaikh and Indus Hospital’s CEO, Dr. Abdul Bari at a simple ceremony. The Indus hospital will manage the entire operations of the Clinic under their own management by providing necessary and quality healthcare facilities and services.
Given the high Maternal Mortality Rate and Infant Mortality Rate in Tharparkar region, the Clinic was initiated in June 2015 by SECMC initiated as Marvi Mother and Child Health Clinic at its centrally located Site Office. Several local community members are involved in the running of the weekly clinic, whilst dispensary staff from a local pharmacy in Islamkot has been engaged. The clinic also provides medicines free of cost to females and children.
Briefing about the venture, Mr. Shamsuddin Shaikh said, the health facility is fully equipped with a specialized female gynecologist, a qualified nurse, provision of an ultrasound machine, Gynae/Ops related medical checkup, free of cost medical consultation services and provision of free medicines. Total number of patients to date at the clinic has been around 6,000. He said, that the clinic has been one of our success stories in providing better health care facilities to the people of Block II and surrounding areas.
He was of the view that provision of quality health care and education related services has been one of the top priorities of SECMC since the advent of the Thar Coal Project.
“It will always be the Company’s foremost priority to safeguard and improve the quality of life of its local communities so they may benefit from development rather than be hindered by it,” he added. He hoped that the new endeavor will take off on a larger scale with the help of top notch medical expertise of the Indus hospital and its management.
Dr. Abdul Bari also expressed his thoughts saying that it has been our mission to provide free of cost health care to under privileged areas.
“Starting operations in Thar with the help of SECMC is the break of a new dawn for the future of not only Sindh but Pakistan overall,” he said.“Indus Hospital will be taking charge to manage daily operations at the clinic following this agreement. In addition to this, Indus Hospital will be constructing a larger 100-bed hospital in the Islamkot Taluka in the coming months so that the people of this area have a proper healthcare facility to their disposal,” said Dr. Bari.
It is pertinent to mention that the socio-economic conditions of Thar Coal Block II is no different to the overall poor human conditions in district Tharparkar. For total population of 9,000 of 8 villages access to the nearest free of cost health care facility is around 80 kilometers away – thus making access to immediate care exceptionally challenging.
