KARACHI: Federal govt hospitals not to charge for platelets: Centre also pledges refund
By Mukhtar Alam
KARACHI, Nov 9: Federal Health Minister Mohammad Naseer Khan has said that the government will bear the cost of platelets transfusion for patients of Viral Haemorrhagic Fever/dengue fever done at federal government hospitals.
Addressing a press conference at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre here on Thursday, the minister said that patients admitted to the federal government hospitals were already being provided free treatment for VHF/dengue fever. And now, he added, keeping in view the hardship of patients, the government had decided to bear the cost of platelets transfusion also.
He said that those who had already made payment to blood banks for single or mega unit platelet bags during their treatment at federal government hospitals, including the JPMC, could also get their amount reimbursed after completing the formalities.
He said that necessary advice would be conveyed to the federal government hospitals in regard to the platelets, an essential requirement for dengue fever patients.
Mr Khan informed newsmen that as many as 34 deaths had taken place due to the VHF/dengue fever till Wednesday night in the country. He said the government might also consider extending compensation to the families of the deceased people.
He remarked that the overall statistics available with him as of Wednesday night gave to understand that dengue fever cases had now been showing a decline and within the next 10 days, the situation would further improve as people and the local, provincial and federal governments were taking all plausible measures to get rid of the mosquito-borne menace.
He noted that dengue mortality rate in the country had come down from 1.6 to 0.9 per cent.
It was unfortunate that of the 3,400 VHF/dengue cases reported so far over the past five months, 2,800 cases were reported in Sindh alone. As such, the province remained under immense pressure. However, now the government at all levels was working on a well-coordinated strategy and it was hoped that Sindh, particularly Karachi, would come out of the depression. He appreciated the clinical management of patients in question at government and private hospitals.
Mr Khan observed that since after his previous visit to Karachi about a week back, the overall sanitation conditions, as well as garbage lifting and disposal activities, had improved considerably which could be attributed to Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad who had mobilised all relevant agencies.
He said that the federal government was working on a coordinated strategy and protocols aimed at safe and efficient disposal of solid waste and checking mosquitoes’ breeding grounds. It is hoped that a comprehensive strategy will be devised in a six-month time, he said, adding that the dengue fever problem needed a holistic approach involving every citizen and organisation, besides the government.
JPMC Director Prof Mashoor Alam told journalists that efforts were also on to import machines for production of platelets at the JPMC. At present, no government sector health unit possessed such machines.
Earlier, the federal minister was given a presentation by JPMC Deputy Director Dr Seemi Jamal. She informed him that since September 22 this year, as many as 367 patients with VHF/dengue had been admitted to the JPMC and seven of them succumbed to the disease.
The minister also visited the dengue patients who were under treatment at the Special Ward of the JPMC and National Institute of Child Health. He inquired about their health and expressed his satisfaction over the handling of the cases, saying that had the government hospitals not paid due attention to such patients, the mortality rate could have been much higher.
During a briefing at the NICH, the in-charge of its Dengue Ward, Dr Mohammad Fareeduddin, said that the first dengue case had been brought there on October 6 and since then as many as 108 patients had been admitted, 74 (68.5 per cent) later detected dengue positive. Three of the patients could not survive, he said.
Meanwhile, Dr Shakeel A. Mullick of the Dengue Fever Cell, Sindh Health Department, said that 56 more suspected VHF/dengue patients had been admitted to 13 hospitals in the city, raising the overall number of patients having contracted the disease since June, 2006 to 3,121. The number of patients found dengue positive soared to 1,042 (37.74 per cent) in Karachi and 16 in the case of interior Sindh, he said, adding that no death was reported from these hospitals over the past 24 hours, ending 2pm on Thursday.
A maximum of 12 fresh patients were admitted to the Aga Khan University Hospital, followed by eight at the JPMC, and six at Dr Ziauddin Hospital. Reports from three reporting hospitals, i.e. Liaquat National Hospital, Patel Hospital and Zainab Punjwani Hospital, could not be received, Dr Mullick said.
The patients’ position at different hospitals in the city on Thursday was as follows:
The patients afflicted with mosquito-borne diseases are brought to various hospitals from different localities of Defence, Akhtar Colony, Clifton, Lasbella and other areas.
