11 October 2004	Monday	25 Shaban 1425

KARACHI, Oct 10: The eye patients visiting ophthalmology department of civil hospital are at great risk, as all operations at eye operation theatre are being carried out without any alternate electricity backup like generator.

In case of any electric failure, the patients are at risk of irreversible damage to eyes. According to a department official, the ophthalmology department was the only centre in the whole province for complicated vitreo-retinal procedures.

He said that it was not possible to take the responsibility of losing the eye once it was opened for three-hour-long surgical procedure. "It is very dangerous and unsafe to operate a patient without backup generator, as if electricity failure occurs during surgery, the eye will be damaged," he said. He expressed concern that many patients were at present admitted for the same procedure to the department.

Referring to a case operated last month, he said that electricity failure occurred during surgery and the procedure was hardly done by surgeon with the help of torch. "In many cases, there is always an eye damage due to electricity failure during operation," he added.

"More than 100 surgeries are usually undertaken every month and electricity failure occurs four to five days in a month in morning times and many times it is unpredictable.

Electricity failure makes the condition worse, while operation is underway and create double trouble for patients, as the victims have to go through the procedure along with anaesthesia again," he said.

Dr Idrees Adhi of ophthalmology department, when contacted confirmed the fact that the operation theatre was running without any alternate electricity arrangement. "It is our moral and ethical duty to cure patients from diseases and operation without backup power supply is totally unethical," he added.

He said that he had informed the medical superintendent of the hospital in written and drawn his attention several times to the problem and risk for patients, but in vain.

"The last reminder was written in the first week of October requesting the medical superintendent for provision of generator in eye department," he added. Medical Superintendent Dr Raza Ali said that on demand of eye department and to cater other departments' needs for alternate power supply, a generator of 100KV had been installed behind electricity switch room and testing had also been successfully done.

"Work to lay dawn cable for power supply from generator when electricity failure occurs is underway and hopefully it will be completed within two weeks. Eye Operation Theatre is on our top priority and cable will be provided to the eye department first against their long standing demand," he added. -PPI