PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department has decided to send local paediatricians to Karachi and Islamabad for training in neonatology to materialise its plan of setting up intensive care units for newborn babies at the divisional level hospitals to control avoidable deaths in the province.

“The move is aimed at imparting training to the doctors, who have FCPS or MRCP degrees in child health and work as specialists in government hospitals in neonatology. There are strict instructions of chief minister and health secretary to induct doctors to seek agreements with Aga Khan and Islamabad-based hospitals to produce trained doctors for working in neonatology wards,” Prof Riaz Anwar Khan, dean of Postgraduate Medical Institute, told Dawn.

He said that they signed memorandum of understanding with Combined Military Hospitals for the postgraduate training of doctors in the specialties that the province lacked.

Intensive care units will be set up for newborns at divisional hospitals

They would undergo training in CMH Rawalpindi where the specialty existed, he said.

“It is a different field and it is very important to develop it given the speed with which mothers and newborns die of preventable causes,” said Prof Riaz. He said that the directives came from government after request from the health department to start intensive care units for newborn babies in Mansehra, Karak, Lakki Marwat, Lower and Upper Dir and Chitral.

He said that intensive care units for infants could be set up in the hospitals where gynea and obstetric wards existed.

“We have hired people for setting up ICUs at the divisional level hospitals to put brakes on delivery-related complications,” said Dr Sahib Gul, coordinator of Mother and Child Health Programme.

He said that last year government established ICUs in the hospitals in Saidu Sharif Swat, Dera Ismail Khan and Abbottabad where health indicators with regard to maternal and infant mortality had shown decline.

“A request has also been made by health department to the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan to start FCPS in neonatology to enable it to launch proper wards,” said the official. There is shortage of staff and facilities of neonates are concentrated in Khyber Teaching Hospital, Lady Reading Hospital and Hayatabad Medical Complex in Peshawar and Ayub Teaching Hospital in Abbottabad.

Most of the district headquarters hospitals don’t have specialised wards for treatment of newborns.

“We have planned to give equipment like ventilators and incubators and put in place proper heating system in wards to provide desired level of warmth to infants but we are waiting for trained doctors,” said Dr Sahib Gul.

He said that health department was inviting experts from Karachi to conduct workshops for doctors, nurses and paramedics to cope with the shortage. “Neonatology is practicing medicine worldwide including third world countries except Pakistan where number of neonatologist is less than 10,” sources said.

They said that general paediatricians and obstetricians could also play vital role in treatment of neonates. The CPSP was considering starting FCPS courses in neonatology, they said.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2016