Soon, Valley residents say life-saving treatment 60 miles away is costing them their health and savings.
JUSHAB:
Hundreds of kidney patients in Tehsil Nowshera are trapped 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 over rugged and mountainous roads to Khushab several times a week, a grueling and risky ordeal that has become their only salvation.
Educator Malik Usman Ghazi Awan told Express that the 60-kilometer rocky and uneven route from Nowshera to Khushab is a tough test for any frail patient.
Kidney patients, already struggling with extreme weakness, shortness of breath and fatigue, must undertake 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 exhausted, the shocks of the return trip and the long waiting times break them down even more,” he said.
Families of several patients say their loved ones’ health deteriorates not within the hospital, but during this grueling journey.
The crisis is not only physical but also financial. Small farmers and workers spend thousands of rupees every two days on transportation and fuel, an amount that often exceeds the cost of dialysis itself.
Many homes in the valley have been financially ruined; Jewels and ancestral lands 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 in the assembly or took serious steps to secure emergency funds,” he said. “They show up just to ask for votes. When people need life-saving measures, they treat the file like a worthless piece of paper.”
He added that personal interests and construction projects with greater “commission potential” have repeatedly been prioritized, exposing what he described as “acute incompetence and moral bankruptcy.”
Saleem Awan said that although Nowshera THQ Hospital already has the space and basic infrastructure for a dialysis unit, tehsil-level officials have shown “criminal negligence” by delaying the file every time with the excuse of “not having funds”, despite knowing that such delays could lead to deaths on the road.
Social activist Malik Shehbaz Awan questioned the silence of the Punjab government and termed it alarming.
“Despite big claims about healthcare reforms, why is the provincial government ignoring the basic right to treatment of nearly 200,000 Nowshera residents?” he questioned.
“People are demanding that the Chief Minister and the provincial Health Minister immediately take notice and release emergency funds. Patients cannot bear another day of this deadly journey.”
He said the people of Soon Valley are now pinning their hopes on an influential figure who belongs to the valley, Attorney General of Pakistan Malik Mansoor Usman Awan.
As a native of the region, he knows very well the geographical and economic difficulties of the area.
The locals ask him to personally intervene and use his influence to persuade the Punjab government to set up a dialysis center without delay.
“People consider him their true representative,” Shehbaz said. “A strong voice from him can end this collective suffering and ensure immediate installation of dialysis machines at THQ Nowshera. This is the time for him to pay back his motherland.”
When contacted, Dr Saima Ikram, executive director of health, Khushab, said there is no official plan, approval or documentation for the establishment, expansion or operation of a dialysis unit at Nowshera THQ Hospital.
