Infectious diseases

Sindh has been in the clutches of infectious diseases – both bacterial and viral. Earlier this week, four deaths have been reported in the province – one each coming from Naegleria fowleri, Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), dengue and rabies. Naegleria, which has a toll in double figures for the year, claimed its victim from North Karachi while CCHF claimed its victim from Thar. The dengue virus infected a man from Karachi who became the 32nd victim of the virus in Sindh. The rabies victim was an a18-year-old boy from Jamshoro. Dengue, rabies and CCHF are treatable, provided the patient receives timely treatment.

The deaths can rightly be blamed on insufficient medical facilities in easy access for the patients as well as a lack of information about seeking treatment. Amongst those who died this week, the youngster infected by rabies died three months after he had been bitten by a rabid dog. He was taken to a local medical practitioner but was never provided with anti-rabies vaccine. His case brings to mind the heart-wrenching images of a mother holding her young, rabies-infected child on the road outside a hospital as he died because he was too far along in the infection.

Sindh has long struggled with infectious diseases. Despite the claims made by the provincial government to improve the health situation in the province, recent issues have shown that there are massive gaps in the system. These gaps are not just in terms of facilities or availability of medicines, but also in terms of quality of personnel and other sectors such as environment, sewerage, water supply and sanitation.

Sindh is among the largest producer of the most qualified doctors in the country with the largest concentration of top medical institutions and hosts a substantial concentration of pharmaceutical manufacturers. Perhaps it needs to work in greater liaison with these institutions to come up with a coordinated, multi-sectoral solution to its health problem.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 17^th, 2019.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.