KARACHI, Jan 8: Sindh Minister for Planning and Development Shoaib Bukhari on Wednesday inaugurated a well-equipped asthma cube at the emergency ward of the Civil Hospital Karachi.
The cube, developed on modern lines, has been set up with the support of Mohajir Rabita Council and is expected to cater each month to between 500 and 750 patients.
The incharge of the department of accident and emergency, Dr Tarique Kamal Ayubi, said that a surge in the number of asthma patients reporting to the department in critical conditions had necessitated the establishment of such a facility.
He said that the rise was not only seasonal but environmental pollution had also enhanced vulnerability of Karachiites to the ailment.
“The minimum number of asthma patients reporting to the department is 25 to 30 daily,” Dr Ayubi said, adding that with the establishment of the modern cube an outdated treatment strategy had been replaced with a modern facility.
He also stressed the need for an increase in the number of beds for trauma cases under emergency conditions. The accident and emergency department has only ten beds for trauma patients, besides 25 beds for medical/surgical emergency cases.
Meanwhile, doctors associated with the chest ward and emergency department of the hospital advised the public to realize that asthma is of varied types and could generally be controlled, even cured through little caution.
The disease, they added, exposes a patient to difficulty in breathing and could result from a simple chest infection which may be treated with medicines, never to recur.
The doctors maintained that often the ailment was a consequence of smoking or reaction to certain drugs or inhalation of certain fumes and once the patient gives up such drugs and fumes, he gets permanently cured.
PROTEST CRITICIZED: Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the asthma cube, Shoaib Bukhari took strong exception to the protest staged by postgraduate medical students at the Civil Hospital.
The minister said that without going into legality of the provision of stipend for the doctors, he would suggest that they should not resort to agitation.
“As a public representative, I would try to extend all possible help in resolving the issue but I would have been more involved in the process had these students been demanding for free education up to matric level in the province, as introduced in the Punjab recently,” he maintained.
Mr Bukhari said that while there was no dearth of doctors who realized their responsibilities towards the masses, he failed to understand why medical graduates and postgraduates doctors were reluctant to serve in the rural areas, where a large number of basic health units were still without doctors.
He said that the longstanding problem of damaged sewerage system at the Civil Hospital would be solved without any unnecessary delay.
Prof Naushad A. Sheikh, Medical Superintendent of the hospital, said that a sum of Rs18 million had been allocated for reconstruction of the sewerage system at the hospital and efforts were needed to expedite the release of the approved funds and its adequate application.
He said that during the last two years several projects had been initiated at the hospital under private-public cooperation, many of them were at par with facilities available at reputed private health-care institutions.
Qazi Khalid, President of the Mohajir Rabita Council, said his organisation was extending equal attention towards provision of improved facilities at basic health units and rural health care centres.
Dr Mashooduz Zafar said the asthma cube project was initiated in close collaboration with the MRC in the backdrop of a surge in the incidence rate of asthma.—APP