Compromising lives: Medical emergency conference at AKU

Experts at AKU conference said that expertise required to handle emergencies are not readily available for children.

KARACHI:

The facilities required to address emergencies for children in Pakistan have been severely compromised due to a lack of public awareness, inadequate government support and the absence of legislation. Experts at Aga Khan University’s (AKU) third annual emergency medicine conference said that the expertise required to handle medical emergencies, such as poisoning, drowning, burns, physical and emotional abuse, injuries from domestic violence, as well as, accidents, are not readily available for children in most hospitals. They stressed that there is an urgent need for legislation, which sets out standards for paediatric emergency care.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2013.