Committee set up to ensure oxygen supply to hospitals

Hospitals maintain they have oxygen in stock at present, but day’s supply affected amid blocked roads

The Sindh health department formed on Thursday a three-member committee to ensure uninterrupted supply of oxygen to hospitals in Karachi, after it emerged that the supply was being affected as sit-ins over Machh killings and road blocks continued for the third day - with protesters’ demands remaining unaddressed - in the port city

The management of Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital told The Express Tribune that the management of the Pakistan Oxygen Supply Company, which supplies oxygen to health facilities in Karachi, had informed them that its trucks couldn’t reach the hospital due to blocked arteries.

Confirming this, the management of the Pakistan Oxygen Supply Company said it had notified Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and other health facilities of the reason behind the delay in the supply of oxygen.

They said their trucks weren’t able to go past Port Qasim since 4am on Thursday.

Oxygen is supplied to hospitals on a daily basis, which is in addition to the stock they have in store for emergency use.

When asked about the situation, the management of the Indus Hospital said it had medicines and oxygen in stock, though, adding that the supplies may run short if the sit-ins continued in the following days.

They further said patients were facing difficulties in reaching the hospital due to the closure of roads.

Sindh Infectious Diseases Hospital medical superintendent Dr Wahid too said the stock of oxygen at his hospital was enough to last for two days, but problems may arise if the routine supply remains affected beyond that.

Moreover, JPMC executive director Dr Seemin Jamali said the assistance of law enforcers had been sought to ensure the uninterrupted supply oxygen to hospitals.

The hospitals’ managements were of the view that ensuring the persistent supply of oxygen to hospital was of increased importance at present, given the prevalence of the coronavirus pandemic.

When the health department was intimated of the situation, it formed the three-member committee, which is to facilitate correspondence between hospitals’ managements, the oxygen supplier and law enforcement agencies. The committee comprises of Sindh health department focal persons Dr Dabir Ahmed Khan, Dr Sikandar Ali Memon and Dr Syed Ashiq Hussain Shah.

Sit-ins continue

Sit-ins were underway in the city at at least 24 spots, including Gulshan Chowrangi, Nipa, Shah Faisal Colony, Port Qasim, Quaidabad and Abbas Town, on Thursday.

The leaders of the Pakistan Peoples Party, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, Pak Sarzameen Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and other parties also addressed the protests held by Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM).

The protesters expressed solidarity with the families of the 11 miners of the Hazara community who were shot dead in Machh last week.

Speaking on the occasion, MWM’s Sindh chapter secretary general Allama Baqir Abbas Zaidi said that the sit-ins would continue across the country in solidarity with the families of the slain miners and until the heirs called of protests and agreed to bury the bodies.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan delaying his visit to Quetta was complicating the matters.

“The government must accept the demands of families who are sitting in the streets, in biting cold, with the bodies of their loved ones,” he added.

Meanwhile, multiple arteries in the city were choked as others remained blocked for traffic.

A traffic police representative said traffic from blocked roads was being diverted towards alternative routes, though the flow of the traffic in the city had slowed down.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8^th, 2021.