KARACHI, Aug 10: The Sindh health department has adopted a pragmatic approach to bridge the wide gap between doctors/ dentists and nurses/paramedics through establishment of new training schools for the latter as well as revising their pay scales.
This was stated by Sindh Health Secretary Prof Naushad Shaikh here on Thursday, while speaking at a press conference organised to brief the media about “World Health Update” scheduled to be held in Karachi from January 26-28, 2007.
“In the Sindh government facilities there are 11,000 doctors against every 2,000 nurses while gap is wider in context of paramedics,” he said.
Reiterating his stance that the Sindh health department was keen to encourage private sector to play a meaningful role in the health sector, the secretary said that the teachers and trainers serving at government nursing/ paramedics schools had been allowed to work in the afternoon shifts of private nursing schools.
Private nursing/midwifery schools have been allowed to run second shifts, he said and later responding to a query assured that measures would be taken so that these schools did not overcharge and maintained the required standards of training/teaching.
He hoped that the conference to be attended by internationally known experts from nursing, medical and dentistry fields would contribute towards the teaching and training of the professionals.
Appreciating that telemedicine would be an important aspect of the moot, he said this was also in consonance with the initiative taken by the Sindh health department currently having linked six of its district headquarter/ taluka hospitals with tertiary hospitals in Karachi.
Regarding the recent cases of haemorrhagic fever the secretary said that around 40 cases of haemorrhagic fever had been reported from different parts of Karachi during the last three months, mainly comprising those shifting from mountainous region of Balochistan. They have been adequately treated at the Aga Khan University Hospital, he added.
The secretary said that 15 cases of haemorrhagic fever were diagnosed as dengue fever, five as Congo Crimean while type and category of the remaining could not be ascertained though these too presented with high fever and profuse bleeding.
“Samples of these undiagnosed cases were also sent to labs abroad but those too could not ascertain the type,” he said.
People from Lyari, Machar Colony, Baldia Town mainly reported with the condition but among them 70 per cent were those who had moved in from Balochistan or had recently visited the province.
The lady from Machar Colony, who was provided treatment at Civil Hospital Karachi, was also fortunate to get urgent support, the health secretary said adding that the government health care facilities though do not have sophisticated facilities to diagnose the disease but are other wise well-equipped to manage them.
With regard to reported surge in the incidence of gastroenteritis, he said measures have been adopted at the provincial government as well as the city government levels and identified health units were working round-the-clock in all the 18 towns of Karachi.
To a question, he said an autonomous governing board had been constituted to supervise working of tertiary care hospitals including Civil Hospital Karachi and Lyari General Hospital and they were not only responsible to ensure provision of the required medical goods, medicines etc but also directly accountable to the Sindh governor and chief minister.
Dr Navid Rashid Qureishi, chairman, Conference and Scientific Committee giving details of the conference said it was an initiative to bring on board all segments of health care professionals as well as the masses. Dr Mohammad Ali Shah and others also spoke.—APP
