PESHAWAR: Rheumatologist Dr Tajwar Saber has asked the people suffering from arthritis to contact the relevant doctors for treatment to stay safe from complications.

Addressing a seminar on ‘awareness of rheumatology here on Saturday, Dr Tajwar said patients were the ultimate sufferers due to lack of awareness and therefore, there was a need for informing the people about the availability of rheumatologists in the province.

“Patients with arthritis and 200 other disorders that affect bones, muscles and soft tissues, blood vessels, or those suffering from spinal pain and defects in organs require specialists for treatment,” she said.

The rheumatologist said a lot of improvement had been recorded in the treatment of arthritis during the last two decades in rest of the world but Pakistan, especially KP, continued to lag behind in that respect.

Dr Tajwar says only medical experts should be consulted to prevent arthritis complications

She said most patients suffering from arthritis were poor people and waste a lot of time due to lack of awareness of their diseases while reaching the right doctors and the right time.

A consultant in public sector medical teaching institution, Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, Dr Tajwar said the disease was curable if patients were managed by specialists concerned.

She said the treatment of arthritis was the use of tablets along with physiotherapy, occupational therapy, biologics and surgery for joint replacement.

“There should be proper investigation to ascertain the causes of the problem,” she said.

The rheumatologist said people suffering from any kind of such disease should shun myths and shouldn’t visit hakims and homeopaths.

“The patients should know that there are rheumatologists in the city to seek treatment from,” she said.

Dr Tajwar, however, said investigation into arthritis was expensive, while medication was costly due to which patients couldn’t afford the treatment.

Rotary Club district chair Shakeel Khalil Khan informed participants about the role of his organisation, saying its main objectives are the welfare of the underprivileged community.

He said the organisation offered social services, worked in polio awareness, provided missing facilities to schools, supplied safe water to the poor people, trained midwifes, especially in far-off areas of the province.

The seminar was arranged by the Rotary International District 3272, Pakistan Regional Community Service at Rotary Hall of the Peshawar Model Degree College.

Chairman of the Rotary Pakistan Literacy Committee Ghayur Sethi, President of the Rotary Club Peshawar New City Yunis Sethi, Bilal Khwaja and other prominent people of the area participated in the event.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2019