Sickness and health

Public healthcare provision in AJK, like in much of Pakistan, is in a poor state. In most cases, you have to draw on your own resources.

I was quite interested in the health profile of Dadyal. Unable to find anything published on the subject, I spoke to a number of chemists to see what kind of medication they sell the most. Apparently no HIV medication is dispensed, but Hepatitis is fairly widespread. Diabetes, high blood pressure and raised cholesterol are also common.

Depression also appears to be on the rise. In the past, disparate symptoms, from vague ‘body ache’ to ‘tightness’ in the head, were rarely brought under the umbrella of depression. But now more and more medication is being dispensed for depression.

Rather alarmingly, medicines which ought only to be prescribed by a doctor can sometimes be purchased over the counter. You can buy medicines such as Omeprazole, Metronidazole and Amoxicillin, and many others, from Chattroh, without a prescription. The dangers to the individual are obvious. In the case of antibiotics, the dangers are to all of us. Unnecessary prescribing creates an opportunity for resistant bacteria to develop and spread. Resistance is spreading faster than the development of new antibiotics.