KARACHI, April 7: The Lyari General Hospital has planned to launch a health awareness programme in the locality with the cooperation of community leaders and workers. This was said by the Medical Superintendent of the hospital, Akbar Haider Soomro, at the inaugural ceremony of a screening test programme of Hepatitis C for hospital employees. Mr Soomro said the killer disease, creating panic among people, can be treated effectively if diagnosed earlier. He stressed the need for creating public awareness about the disease, saying the notion that the disease was incurable was incorrect.
He said the government was making all-out efforts to provide maximum facilities to fight the disease and help poor patients.
The MS told the hospital staff that anyone falling victim to the disease would be provided free treatment facilities. He also assured them that steps were being taken to improve the hospital’s working conditions and healthcare facilities for patients.
He said the hospital’s operation theatre (OT) had been renovated and opened after five months. An evening lab service, a doctors’ canteen service and a modern computerised library were also being set up, he added.
It was also decided that refresher courses would be launched for the general practitioners (GPs) in the locality, he added.
A three-month continuous medical education (CME) programme every fortnight had already been launched to update staff members about latest trends in the medical field and use of modern technology, he added.
The function was also addressed by the Project Director of the Sarwar Zuberi Liver Centre, Dr Rana Qamar Masood, and Additional Medical Superintendent of the LGH Mohammad Aslam Pechuho.
Dr Masood emphasized the need for greater awareness about liver diseases, saying that people mostly panicked when informed that they were sufferers of HBV or HCV.
“Earlier, the virus is diagnosed, better the chances of treatment,” she said, but regretted that in most cases, people come to know about it after major damage was done.
She said the liver centre established in the Civil Hospital on May 22 last year was providing maximum facilities to patients, adding that as many as 13 patients were being treated free of cost under the ‘adopt-a-patient’ programme.
She urged philanthropists to come forward and help the needy poor patients. She also assured the poor employees of the Lyari General Hospital that if any case was referred to her centre, maximum facilities would be provided to them.
