KARACHI: Chest diseases in industrial areas on the rise
KARACHI, March 9: Alarmingly high occurrence rate of chest diseases and infections including Community Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) is reported among the residents of industrial areas of Karachi.
The main reason for the problem is attributed to burning of solid waste in populated areas, thus affecting the respiratory system of the inhabitants. The areas, where high occurrence rate of chest infections is reported, include Korangi, Landhi, Site and New Karachi.
According to chest physicians and researchers, traffic- related air pollution is another reason for growing incidence of chest infections. Experts at Sindh Government Hospital, Korangi, said that about 75 per cent of the patients coming to OPD had been diagnosed with respiratory-tract infections.
Most of the patients were the residents of Landhi and Korangi, where solid waste was frequently burnt, they said. The experts said that a number of people working in cotton and asbestos factories had developed chest problem known as occupational asthma.
Health experts were of the view that residents living in close proximity of places where solid waste was burnt continuously inhaled fumes and developed chest infections. The lack of awareness among the local population complicated their illness and many of these patients developed pneumonia, they said.
Dr Shahid Shoaib Abbasi said that people owing to the lack of awareness and scarce financial means rush to the hospital after developing multiple problems of cough, fever and asthma. "Late reporting at hospital leads to a situation where it invariably took two weeks for the settling of treatment," he added.
A large number of patients having chest infections were between age group of 50 to 65 years, he said adding that a good number of children with "intercostal resuscitation problems" are also among those suffering from chest problems. In addition to antibiotics, most of the patients have to use inhalers for asthma.
According to chest physician Dr Shakil Ahmad Siddiqi of Sindh Government Hospital, Korangi-5, air pollution caused by buses, wagons, minibuses, rickshaws and heavy vehicles have made the people sick.
"Not only this, but the industrial pollution and waste products from the houses are also burnt all-around Korangi, which has aggravated the miseries of people," he said.
While saying that solid waste burning and traffic-related air pollution remains a key target for public health action in Korangi and Landhi, he underscored the need for ensuring that the solid waste was burnt away from populated areas so that its impact on the inhabitants could be minimized, if not fully eliminated. -PPI
