‘Pakistan faces shortage of 500 intensivists'

PMA president claims new isolation wards need critical care experts to function properly

KARACHI: Governments in the past paid no attention to producing critical care experts to meet the country's requirements, leading to an acute shortage of intensivists during the pandemic, stated Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) president Dr Mirza Ali Azhar on Sunday.

Talking to PPI, he revealed that less than 100 intensivists were currently available in the country, which requires 500 more such specialists to properly treat coronavirus patients. "About 70 critical care doctors are available in the country, the majority of whom are practicing in private hospitals," he claimed.

Dr Azhar explained that an intensivist was a physician specialising in the care of critically ill patients, often leading multidisciplinary teams of care providers to help coordinate, collaborate and facilitate treatment.

He claimed that while some critical care doctors were available in Pakistan's major cities, no intensivists were present at divisional or district-level hospitals, including those in Sindh.

With the number of Covid-19 patients rising exponentially throughout the country, the need for critical care doctors in isolation wards had also increased, he added, pointing out that though provincial governments have been expanding coronavirus isolation wards, they have ignored the fact that more critical care professionals are needed for the adequate functioning of these wards.

He demanded that 500 critical care doctors be hired on an urgent basis to overcome the shortage of experts in the newly-established intensive care units and high dependency units across the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22^nd, 2020.