Sindh Government Hospital gets a paediatric emergency ward

CM urges need to establish more health facilities for children

KARACHI: An 80-bed paediatric emergency ward, established by the Child Life Foundation, was inaugurated on Tuesday by Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah at the Sindh Government Hospital in Korangi No 5.

Murad was accompanied by Health Minister Dr Sikandar Mandhro, Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Saeed Ghani, Health Secretary Fazalullah Pechuho, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Sohail Rajput and others.

Annually, around 150,000 children are provided medical facilities at the Korangi hospital and now the ratio will increase as its child emergency ward has been equipped with the latest medical equipment.



The chief minister visited all sections of the paediatrics emergency ward, including the intensive care unit, and lauded the set-up. He also visited the storage area to see the temperature in which medicines were being stored and check their quality.

Murad urged the staff to provide the required medicines to the patients. "Don't take it as a job, rather feel that it is a service to humanity," he told Medical Superintendent Mahboob Shah, hoping Mahboob would serve the patients at the hospital properly.
Earlier, Murad had said he was working on a plan to establish hospitals and wards for children in 10 hospitals of different areas to cater to the growing needs of the metropolis.

Murad said that just after taking over as chief minister he visited the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) where he was informed that 80,000 children were treated at the facility every month.



"Currently, there are two major health facilities that cater to children, NICH and Civil hospital. Now, the Sindh Government Hospital in Korangi has become the third major facility and two more of such fully-equipped facilities are badly needed," he said.

On this, the chief minister was told emergency wards for children can be established in Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and at Nagan Chowrangi Government Hospital which would be functioning round the clock.
Murad said he was ready to provide funds. "There is no shortage of funds for the health sector," he said, adding there was only a need for dedicated doctors who would be willing to selflessly serve ailing children.

The chief minister also announced that 10 such children hospitals or wards will operate through a public-private partnership. "This [public-private partnership] experiment has delivered successfully and doctors are now even working in rural areas where they were initially not willing to serve," he said.