Child deaths preventable with functional ERs

400,000 children die in Pakistan every year, says ChildLife CEO

KARACHI: Children under five years of age have the highest mortality rate in Pakistan - as many as 400,000 children die every year, though 50 per cent of these deaths can be prevented if the emergency rooms of hospitals are fully functional, said ChildLife chief executive officer Dr Ahson Rabbani.

Dr Rabbani claimed that his foundation has transformed paediatric emergency rooms in all government teaching hospitals in Sindh and Balochistan, adding that three million children had been treated in these facilities to date. He said that with more upcoming emergency rooms, one million children will be treated every year.

"Our vision is to transform all 40-plus paediatric emergency rooms in government teaching hospitals of Pakistan," he stated. He added that telemedicine satellite centres will also be established at government hospitals across all the tehsils.

Based on the Sustainable Development Goals, all countries in the world are aiming to reduce the neonatal mortality rate to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and the under-five mortality rate to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births by 2030.

The foundation has updated emergency rooms at Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital, National Institute of Child Health, Sindh Government Hospital Korangi-5, Lyari General Hospital, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, People Medical College in Nawabshah, Chandka Medical College in Larkana, Ghulam Muhammad Mahar Medical College in Sukkur, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences in Hyderabad, and Civil Hospital, Quetta.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 7^th, 2020.