KARACHI, Nov 23: Some 450 house-job doctors serving at Civil Hospital Karachi demanded all necessary precautions to protect themselves against serious health conditions in face of poor sanitation and hygienic conditions at most of the wards functioning in varied departments.
These doctors also decided to continue with their ongoing strike, which was called three days back over the death of their young colleague after contracting hemorrhagic fever.
The protesting doctors talking to Health Secretary Prof Naushad A. Shaikh during his visit to Dow University of Health Sciences on Wednesday mentioned that extremely poor hygienic conditions existed in different wards, often devoid of regular water supply, with rodents and insects creeping around.
They also complained of non-availability of needle cutters besides negligible provision for adequate disposal of hazardous waste generated at the city’s major tertiary care facility catering thousands of patients daily and undertaking hundreds of surgical procedures on everyday.
Many of the house doctors informed him that the gloves and masks, though yet to be arranged in adequate numbers, did not even meet the quality criterion required for hospital units.
Prof Naushad Sheikh gave a sympathetic hearing to the submissions of the doctors while appealing them to resume their duties and assured that necessary measures would be taken to address the issue.
He also said that the onset of winters was normally registered with outbreak of viral ailments each year and that there was no need to be panicked. “The health department, however, is fully prepared to take all necessary precautions,” he told the journalists present on the occasion, mentioning that a 10-bed isolation ward has already been set up at the old burns unit.
Answering a question, he said the isolation ward previously functioning at the Civil Hospital Karachi had to be wound up due to non-cooperative attitude of the hospital staffers as well as patients.
“Cases which doctors did not want to attend were shifted to the isolation ward,” he said adding that while at times care takers of the patients who needed to be shifted resisted the decision.
It may be mentioned here that the existing isolation ward at Civil Hospital is yet to be fully developed as an adequate facility, as apart from a few beds neither other gadget nor even staffers could be seen around. Besides, there is no facility for sterilization.
Regretting the death of the lady doctor, the health secretary also mentioned that a three-member committee comprising Dr Illahi Bukhsh Soomro, Dr Khalid Mehmood and Dr Agha Nadir had been assigned with the responsibility to assess the exact cause of the doctor’s expiry and the contributory factors.
The health secretary later took a round of medical ward, including its intensive care unit.
Expressing his concern regarding the poor hygienic conditions at the medical ward, he directed the Medical Superintendent of CHK to look into the matter.
Meanwhile, Sindh Health Minister Shabbir Ahmed Qaimkhani has directed EDO Health Dr Khalid Hussein Sheikh to ensure spray of DDT and other anti-infections to prevent outbreak of any epidemic at Civil Hospital Karachi.
The minister also asked Sindh Health Secretary Prof Naushad Shaikh to see that the high-level investigation committee examined exact cause of the lady doctor’s death, who had been serving at the ENT ward of Civil Hospital and present its report without any unnecessary delay.
He directed the health secretary to provide 3,000 caps, 3,000 masks and 3,000 gloves for medical officers serving at the Civil Hospital.
Maintaining that virus of hemorrhagic fever is spread by rats noticed in godowns located at major commercial centres and cattle pens, he said that arrangements were also being made to spray DDT in all towns.
The minister did not rule out the possibility of the ailment contracted by the deceased lady doctor from one of the countries which she had recently visited. —APP
KARACHI, Nov 23: Some 450 house-job doctors serving at Civil Hospital Karachi demanded all necessary precautions to protect themselves against serious health conditions in face of poor sanitation and hygienic conditions at most of the wards functioning in varied departments.
