KULOB, February 18, 2009, Asia-Plus — During a visit to Khatlon’s Kulob region, Health Minister Nusratullo Salimov has sharply criticized local health officials for failure to ensure adequate preparation of medical facilities for work in the winter period.
His criticism, directed especially at the Kulob health directorate head Alisher Kabirov, came during an address to a meeting of local health officials in Kulob on February 16. The meeting was held to review preparation of the medical facilities for work in the winter period and provision of them with food products and medicines.
According to the source, speaking at the meeting, the minister noted that a two-day inspection conducted in the region had revealed discrepancy between reports sent by Kabirov to the ministry and the actual state of affairs in the Kulob medical facilities.
“Energy crisis has uncovered numerous shortcomings in the Kulob health directorate work on providing local hospitals with generators and fuels,” the source said, noting that generators in the children’s TB hospital had even not been connected to the internal power transmission system, while according to the reports, all necessary works had been carried out completely.
The minister was also dissatisfied with improper provision of local medical facilities with food products, bedding and other supplies, while more than 100,000 somoni were allocated to the Kulob health directorate last December for those purposes.
The most serious situation was reported n the Kulob regional TB hospital, which has not had electricity for more than two days. Since the beginning of the year, no money has been provided to the hospital for purchase of basic food products and medicines.
The minister brought 10 generators, 50 table luminescent lamps and 200 copies of the book “Polyclinic Service” with him to Kulob for local hospitals.
