KARACHI, Sept 20: The newly-built skin ward of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre was inaugurated by Chairman of the Senate, Mohammadmian Soomro, on Saturday afternoon.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the ward’s coordinator said one of her predecessors had requested the authorities some 15 years ago for a machine which is needed whenever radiotherapy was advised. “The absence of this machine is causing problems for the doctors and the patients alike.”

Dr Saeed said the patients requiring radiotherapy had to be referred to another hospital. She requested the chairman of the Senate to look into the matter.

She urged the doctors to specialize in dermatology so that a pool of specialists could be created for the ultimate benefit of the society.

Between 1,200 and 1,400 patients visited the ward’s outpatient unit every week. The unit remained twice a week, said Dr Saeed.

The director of the JPMC informed all those present that about 29,000 surgical operations were performed at the medical centre every year. “There are 30 medical units in our hospital, making it one of the biggest hospital in the country.”

On the occasion, Mohammadmian Soomro expressed surprise at the fact that the authorities had failed to provide an equipment which was badly needed at the ward. He promised that he would look into the matter and try to acquire the machine for the JPMC as soon as possible.

In this regard, he said, community support could also be enlisted. The chairman of the Senate promised that he would be supporting the ward in the future as well.

He also urged the professionals present to benefit from the advances made over the centuries in the field of alternate medicine.