PESHAWAR: Bacha Khan Medical Complex Swabi has been accredited for specialisation in neonatology, first in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, by College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP).

The dean of Bacha Khan Medical Complex (BKMC) and Gajju Khan Medical College (GKMC) Swabi, Prof Shams Rehman, said that CPSP recognised two disciplines for FCPS trainee, including neonatal paediatrics (neonatology) which was the first one in the entire province both in public and private sectors.

“We are going to induct two doctors with FCPS in paediatrics, who will pursue second fellowship in neonatology. This is a big milestone as our province desperately needs specialists for neonates,” he said.

He said that in November last year they established 44-bed neonatal intensive care unit, the largest in the province with assistance of Unicef to provide modern medical care to newborns.

Expert says at least four neonatologists are needed in each district

“We are catering to patients not only from Swabi but from Buner, Swat, Chitral, Dir, Haripur and Attock districts as well,” said Prof Rehman, a physician.

Dr Inayatullah, who will be the first supervisor in the specialty in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told Dawn that the province required at least four neonatologists in each district and three in each major hospital to treat all the newborns properly.

Dr Inayat is the first FCPS qualified neonatologist in the province. He has completed fellowship in paediatrics training at Shifa International Hospital Islamabad and FCPS neonatology training at Pak-Emirates Military Hospital. He said that he was set to impart training to new doctors in that rare specialty.

“We have 12 critical beds, 12-bed high dependency unit, eight-bed isolation, six-bed mother-based care unit, four-bed kangaroo mother care unit and two-bed neonatal emergency,” he said.

Currently, two neonatologists are working at Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) and as many at Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), Peshawar. Khyber Teaching Hospital Peshawar has the services of a paediatric hematologist on neonatologist post, who is looking after nursery, and Ayub Medical Complex Abbottabad has an MD neonatologist.

Dr Inayat said that there was no proper neonatologist in Mardan, Dera Ismail Khan and Bannu. “Recently we visited Women and Children Hospital Razzar in Charsadda. Neonatal unit there has a lot of space, equipment including ventilators, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), incubators and warmers and other infrastructure. If a proper neonatologist is deployed at the hospital, it can be considered for recognition,” he added.

He said that the hospital worked under Directorate-General Health Services where according to its medical superintendent approval to hire neonatologists had been granted by government.

BKMC director Dr Khalid Masud said that BKMC had 450 beds, with 120 and 110 beds in the affiliated Topi and Lahore hospitals, to ensure that visitors got the best possible medical care and were not referred to hospitals outside their district.

According to him, neonatology is a rare specialty to treat patients from birth to next 30 days. “We want to bring down mortality rate and save infants from avoidable deaths,” he added.

He said that the neonatal facility had been established at a cost of Rs28 million that was the first of its kind in the province, offering comprehensive, high quality and essential medical care to newborns.

Dr Khalid said that since its establishment, burden on hospitals in Mardan and even in Peshawar, where patients were referred to from the entire province, had been reduced.

He said that keeping in mind the highest cause of mortality in newborns they provided care to premature and low birth weight babies in addition to offering an evidence-based intervention, promised weight gain, cognitive improvement and behavioural improvement in premature babies.

“The neonatal mortality is a big public health issue in the country, with around 700 newborns dying daily, mostly from preventable and manageable causes,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2025