KARACHI: Experts deplore apathy towards environment
KARACHI, Oct 28: Healthcare experts and environmentalists at a workshop held here on Monday expressed their grave concern over the lack of political will to address the problem of environmental degradation in Sindh.
The consultative workshop was held under the aegis of the ICUN and the participants reviewed the status paper on ‘Environmental Health in Sindh’ presented by Dr Mobina Agboatwala, Paediatrics Department, Civil Hospital, Karachi.
They observed that Sindh is yet to work out a concrete and comprehensive strategy to combat the environmental degradation that is posing a serious threat to the public health across the province.
They noted that the situation, particularly with regard to the health status of children, was registering a high rate of mortality and morbidity.
In her status paper, Dr Mobina extensively referred to the province-based studies on water, noise and air pollution besides impact of inadequate disposal of hospital-induced waste on public health.
Despite a constant surge in water demand, the commodity is largely found to be of questionable quality, both in rural and urban areas, causing a wide range of diseases,
including diarrhoea, with 30 per cent of children being affected by it, she observed saying that dehydration contributed to a high morbidity and mortality rate.
Presenting the scenario, she mentioned that 63 per cent of the samples collected from different parts of Karachi were grossly contaminated with ‘most probable number (MPN) of thermo-tolerant coliform being above 50.
Referring to the 295 samples collected by various institutions and agencies, she said that all the samples from canal water and 75 per cent of those from hand-pumps, wells, ponds and water supplied by municipalities carried thermo-tolerant coliforms.
Salmonella typhi infections, caused due to the Salmonella typhi organisms, were found to be the most common organism isolated from blood in Karachi, she said.
She further said that although no data from other parts of Sindh could be identified yet as typhoid fever spreads through oro-faecal route, its transmission was highest in the areas with poor sanitation system, especially the urban slums where sewage was found mixed with conduit water.
She informed the participants that 94 per cent of children were observed to have developed certain antibodies against Hepatitis A virus by three years of age. She also quoted a study suggesting that 19.4 per cent of children in Sindh developed antibodies against Hepatitis E virus in the year 2000.
Dr Mobina referred to the discrepancies in proper disposal of toxic and non-toxic waste generated at hospitals run by public and private sector in Sindh.
Participants of the workshop underscored the need for a strict check on recycling of plastic bags, indiscriminate use of insecticides and pesticides, existence of industrial units in residential areas and inadequate disposal of garbage.
Nasir Ali Panhwar, Coordinator of the IUCN Pakistan’s Sindh Programme, in his opening remarks said that his organization had commissioned some 17 different status papers on various sectors of environment to help develop an environmental profile of Sindh.
The profile was cited to be prerequisite to address dearth of compiled information on environmental and developmental issues.
Gul Najam Jamy of IUCN Pakistan, who was workshop moderator, said that the organization worked to influence, encourage and assist societies across the globe to conserve integrity and diversity of nature besides ensuring equitable and ecologically sustainable use of natural resources
Irfanullah Tunio (Environmental Protection Agency, Sindh), G. N. Sial (Sindh Graduates Association), Dr Saeed Ismail (HANDS), Dr A. M. Dharejo (Sindh University), Dr Ahsanullah Khan (HOPE), Dr Iftikhar Ahmed (PAVHNA), Shabina Faraz, Samina Iqbal, Bushra Raza, Zohra Rehmat Ali, Dr Edita Droncora, Dr Abdul Khaliq, Lila Ram, Dr Karim Khawaja, Tariq Kazi, Dr Masood Kadir were among the participants.—APP
