Sans burn units, patients forced to seek treatment outside K-P

WWF yet to release funds for equipment in HMC’s incomplete burn centre


Umer Farooq January 25, 2016
WWF yet to release funds for equipment in HMC’s incomplete burn centre. PHOTO: FILE

PESHAWAR:


Though the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led provincial government claims to revolutionise the health sector, it has failed to provide one very important facility. In a province where blasts and explosions are very routine, hospitals there have no isolation wards and burn units.


The province’s lone 120-bed burn unit at Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) is still under construction, though it was supposed to be completed four years ago through the Workers Welfare Fund (WWF). According to insiders privy to the matter, the only reason why it could not be completed was that WWF failed to release Rs600 million to get the equipment for the unit.

Just a room

Since viral diseases like Congo and dengue keep plaguing the province, basic isolation set-ups are established time and again to prevent patients from infecting others. Sometimes, patients with contagious infections are shifted to private rooms.

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However, this very basic system poses a serious threat to patients, their attendants, visitors, and medics. Without isolation wards and rooms which have methods of decontamination, everyone involved remains at risk; specially burn victims whose nerves and other organs are often exposed in the absence of skin.

“I wonder why the K-P government doesn’t address this issue, even though we have a dire need of isolation wards what with seasonal influenza in winter and dengue in March, April, October and November every year,” a senior health official told The Express Tribune. “Besides, there is no place to treat patients who come from Afghanistan, tribal areas and other regions, potentially carrying viruses,” he added.

Exposed and vulnerable

The official, who requested anonymity, said the provincial government has not built a burn unit in K-P as yet. “Although we have burn wards where we provide them with basic care, we don’t have a single unit where we can provide specialised treatment to patients with second degree burns, if not more,” said the official.

All patients with more than 20% burn injuries are advised to go to Kharian in Punjab or Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad.

Dr Muhammad Tahir, a plastic surgeon at HMC and the project head for the Burn and Trauma Unit to be built there, said a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) had been signed with WWF Islamabad. Under the MoU, WWF had promised to provide funds to construct the building and purchase equipment for treatment. The government had also promised to provide land and manpower and run the facility once it becomes operational.



“Since over 80% of the structure has been completed, Rs600 million are still required to purchase equipment. However, WWF has yet to release the funds,” Tahir told The Express Tribune. “WWF will release funds when it holds a governing body meeting but the meeting has not been held until now for unspecified reasons,” he added.

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“We currently [treat patients with burn injuries up to 20%] just because we have no other option,” said Tahir, adding over 6,000 people from Peshawar were treated annually at HMC. K-P Secretary for Health Jamal Yousaf told The Express Tribune the issue of establishing a burn centre was under consideration with the prime minister and the chief minister has already issued a letter to the PM in this regard. However, the funds have yet to come. “We treat people in isolation whenever the need arises. However, we cannot convert an existing ward into an isolation one as that’ll cause problems,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 26th,  2016.

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