My six-hour-old son lost his life due to the unavailability of a paediatric ventilator in Shaheed Benazirabad district
NAWABSHAH: My six-hour-old son lost his life due to the unavailability of a paediatric ventilator in Shaheed Benazirabad district. This necessary equipment was neither available at Nawabshah’s government hospital nor in any private medical centre of the city. On February 3, the fifth Annual Paediatrics Symposium was arranged at the Peoples University of Medical and Health Sciences, Nawabshah under the topic, “New emerging trends to cure paediatric disease”. Renowned pediatricians delivered their speeches here and talked about their contributions.
However, what use are their speeches when health centres can’t purchase life-saving equipment. I ask government officials and elected representatives of the district where the budget that is sanctioned in the millions for the Peoples Medical Hospital is spent? What should parents do, whose children suffer from respiratory problems or are in need of a ventilator? Should parents stand there and count their beloved’s last breaths?
Ahmed Shad Umrani
Published in The Express Tribune, February 9th, 2016.
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