BAHAWALPUR, Nov 3: Ten children, born without natural urine and faecal control mechanism and operated upon at the Paediatric Surgery Complex of Bahawal Victoria Hospital some time ago, are living a normal life, BVH doctors claim. Prof Dr Muhammad Zubair, head of the Quaid-i-Azam Medical College’s Paediatric Surgery Department, told Dawn that their achievement had been acknowledged by the 22nd International Paediatric Surgeons Conference held here last month.

He said two of the 10 children – 12-year-old Abdul Rehman of Rojhan Jamali, Balochistan, and eight-year-old Maryam of Chishtian, Bahawalnagar – were brought to the conference so that paediatric surgeons coming from all Saarc countries could meet them.

At the conference, Dr Zubair and Associate Prof Dr Abid Hameed Sheikh gave a demonstration on the construction of artificial urinary bladders during their presentation on such cases of extrophy.

At the conference entitled ‘Continence for all’ 187 delegates had a lively debate on their achievement for two days.

Dr Zubair said on the basis of their presentation on the subject the conference decided that the QAMC paediatric surgery complex would be the first in Pakistan to have advanced continence surgery and paediatric leproscopic surgery facility in Pakistan.

He said up till now only the Sindh Institute for Urology and Transplantation (SIUT), Karachi, was treating extrophy and related disorders and anorectic malformations, but now QAMC paediatric surgery complex would become the centre for the creation of artificial urinary bladders for children. He said child extrophy patients’ treatment would have only a nominal cost.

He said the West went a long way to achieve continence by preserving normal anatomy and physiology.

This made patients to undergo about 17 operations in seven years from birth and cost them a huge money.