KARACHI, Dec 4: It appeared to be a virtual Eid for more than 150 children, aged between one year and 14, on Wednesday when they were given away Eid gifts at a spectacular ceremony held at the Oncology Ward of the National Institute of Child Health (NICH).

The excitement was well evident from the glowing faces of these children as they came to the hospital, otherwise for their regular follow-up treatment, from as far off areas as Tharparkar and Turbat.

It was their one of their routine visits to the ward for being examined and receiving necessary medication free of charge. However, the unprecedented festivity that was waiting for them, took them by surprise making them believe that they, too, were happy and healthy enough to celebrate the upcoming Eid.

The children, each of them holding a bag containing a pair of clothes, toys and other gift items, could little express their joyous sentiments that reflected on their blushing faces.

The event was specifically organized for them by the Child Aid Association (CAA), an NICH-registered NGO having doctors and local philanthropists, working for the child cancer patients, on its members list.

In accordance with the precedence set by the CAA over the last several years, the major participants of the ‘Eidul Fitr 2002’ event were Head Start School Staff and Children, PECHS, Whizzkids Staff and Children, Clifton, Messrs, Labels, DHA besides the prominent figures like Abdul Aziz Khan and Ms Farah Naz.

The participants volunteered their services to collect funds to procure the gift packs.

A big majority of the 750 cancer patient children, visiting the Oncology Department, belongs to the lowest socio-economic segment of the society. Their parents appeared to be poor enough to bear the two-square meals a day and facing a tremendous financial pressure in coping with cancer treatment expenditures.

Dr Uzma Inam, a house officer at the ward, told APP that the parents of many of these children lacked the required financial resources to maintain the hygiene standards essential to avoid infections.

All they could do, she added, was to make hectic efforts to arrange boiled water for their sick child as they lived at places where potable water was not available.

She underscored the need for due realization on the part of the entire society that cancer is a curable disease. She said that efforts were being made through the CAA to avail the require medicines and facilities, including chemotherapy and antibiotic cover, for the patients at the ward.

Highlighting the importance of nutritional care for the patients, she regretted that the lack of such care was linked with the limited earnings of the patients’ families.

Dr Mohammad Ali, a senior housekeeper of the ward, also identified inadequate bedding facility at the NICH as against quite a large and growing number of cancer patients.

He opined that the parents or attendants of the patients must ensure their presence in Karachi during at least six-month initial period while the patients underwent hemotherapy.

He pointed out that there was no hostel accommodation or a similar facility for the patients and their attendants where they could stay during the period. He enlisted this as a major problem.

It may be mentioned here that the CAA has been ensuring maximum possible to the ward eversince its commissioning in 1999. The NGO provides free medicines, free laboratory and radiological investigation facilities besides emoluments of 30-strong personnel at the ward.

Prof Zeenat Essani apprised APP of the efforts being made, in collaboration with the CAA, to establish and manage a Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at the NICH following procurement of necessary equipment worth Rs120 million.—APP