Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah has admitted that the government has failed to control hepatitis in the province even though it spends Rs1 million annually to control the disease.
“The government established an office to control hepatitis. But this has failed to yield results,” said Shah at the inauguration ceremony of a Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) primary healthcare centre in Kathore on Friday. “The disease is spreading with each passing day and because of financial constraints, we cannot provide medicines to all patients.”
These claims were, however, refuted by the previous director of the hepatitis control programme, Dr Abdul Majeed Chutto, who was transferred three days ago. He told The Express Tribune that the out of all of the programmes initiated by the government, the one to curb hepatitis had been the most successful. He felt that some people had misguided the chief minister and painted a false picture of his performance, which is why he was transferred. “I really wonder how the chief minister has come up with this statement when he has already praised the programme on the floor of the Sindh Assembly.”
He added that government of Pakistan had conducted a survey in 2008, in which it was discovered that 2.4% of people living in Sindh had been suffering from hepatitis B and 4.2% from hepatitis C.
Dr Chutto said that more than 60,000 children studying at primary and secondary schools in Karachi and Hyderabad have been vaccinated so far under the programme. “I can claim that this project is more successful that those aiming to keep a check on tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases,” he said.
SIUT initiatives
At the ceremony for the primary healthcare centre in Kathore, the SIUT made an announcement of more plans in the area.
SIUT Director Dr Adibul Hasan Rizvi unveiled plans for an institute of transplantation sciences and biotechnology in Kathore.
The primary healthcare centre will cater to the immediate medical needs of the area’s residents, and will also offer SIUT time to gather the resources it needs to complete the transplantation institute, said Rizvi.
Kathore, which lies 25 kilometres from Karachi, is home to over 300 villages and nearly a million people. SIUT already operates satellite medical centres in Sukkur and Muzaffarabad.
Rizvi said that the centre would treat patients suffering from malaria, diarrhea, tuberculosis and febrile and stone-related illnesses, diabetes and hypertension. While talking about the proposed transplantation and biotechnology institutre, Rizvi said that the government has already donated 100 acres of land in the area to SUIT. However, the institute needs another 200 acres and funds totaling Rs10 billion.
SIUT’s Dr Waseem Khan told The Express Tribune that the project might take anywhere from five to 15 years.
Rizvi expounded on SIUT’s efforts to help patients regardless of caste, colour, creed, gender and religion. “Whatever we have achieved is 100 per cent of our own, as the institute has never taken a single penny from a foreign donor.”
Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, who was also present on the occasion, applauded Dr Rizvi and SIUT for filling gaps in the country’s healthcare system and “their commitment to mitigate the suffering of the people”. The establishment of the primary healthcare facility in Kathore is proof of that commitment, added Shah. The chief minister also admitted that the government had failed in its efforts to provide adequate healthcare to poor people.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 2nd, 2012.
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Excellent job by Dr. Rizvi, since Hepatitis rate is alarming, government should give money and authority to institute like SIUT to curb hepatitis is sindh.