Category: Medical/Health Care

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Medical waste may act as a vehicle in an AIDS-affected area

KARACHI:Director General, Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), Naeem Ahmad Mughal, presided over an environmental review session held here on Tuesday for the installation and operation of four incinerators for the disposal of medical waste in an environmentally friendly manner in various hospitals of Larkana district.

 

In the meeting of experts after examining the environmental impact of the four incinerators, it was decided that environmental approval for their installation and operation would be given in due course of time, keeping in view of the public opinions taken earlier on them.

 

It is to be noted that the Sindh Government is taking all-out measures to prevent further spread of AIDS in Larkana which was spreading on a limited scale over there in the recent past. Safe disposal of hospital waste eliminates the risk of the spread of any infectious diseases including AIDS; therefore, the plan for the installation and operation of subject incinerators in various hospitals of the referred district is being speedily examined to assess their environmental implications.

 

With the financial support of the World Health Organization and the managerial supervision of the Department of Health, Government of Sindh, one incinerator with the capacity of 50 kg per hour of medical waste will be installed at Sheikh Zayed Women’s Hospital, Larkana, while one each of the capacity of 20 kg of waste per hour will be installed at Taluka Hospital Rato Dero and Rural Hospital Nodero. In addition, the place of the installation of the fourth incinerator with a capacity of 10 kg of medical waste per hour will be decided by the Health Department.

 

Barrister Murtaza Wahab, Spokesperson to the Government of Sindh and Advisor to the Chief Minister on Law, Environment, Climate Change, and Coastal Development, has already directed SEPA to conduct an environmental review of all such projects directly related to the public interest on a priority basis. They should be approved without delay while fulfilling their necessary environmental requirements.

 

It may be recalled that in the recent past, several cases of AIDS were reported in Larkana. Out of 30,000 tests conducted between April and June last year, AIDS was found in 876 people, of whom 82% were children under 15 years of age. There were guesstimates that the spread of AIDS in the city could also be due to unsafe medical practices, including the reuse of used syringes and drips for treatment, as well as the presence of the quacks (unauthorized medical practitioners) in the area.

 

During the expert review meeting, DG SEPA Naeem Ahmad Mughal asked various questions from the WHO and Health Department representatives regarding the installation of the incinerators and their subsequent operations in the context of their environmental safety. Dr Sara Salman, WHO head in Sindh, told the meeting that her organization was working with the Health Department Sindh to prevent the spread of AIDS in Larkana and to improve the healthcare system in hospitals, especially to ensure safe disposal of medical waste. ? The WHO is also financing the medical waste disposal machines and in this regard, an agreement has been signed with a company called Madeline Technologies for the installation of the said machines in all the three hospitals in Larkana district.

 

During the meeting, the issues related to the amount of smoke coming out of the chimneys of these incinerators once they are installed and possible side effects while disposing of medical waste, the method of disposal of incinerated waste’s ash, provision of the necessary training to their handlers and operators and temporary storage of the waste before disposal were critically examined. Subsequently, DG SEPA urged the WHO to continue administrative oversight and financial support for the supply, installation, and subsequent operation of the machines beyond their three-year contract period. He also assured that SEPA would provide all possible assistance in environmental matters till the completion of the projects.

 

It should be noted that under Section 17 of the Sindh Environmental Protection Act 2014, all development projects implemented in Sindh, including the construction of buildings and installation of machines, must be approved by SEPA after conducting their environmental impact assessment (EIA). On receiving the comments/opinions of stakeholders through public hearings and media, a committee of experts constituted by SEPA, after a detailed environmental review of the project under consideration, decides whether to give it final approval or refer back for necessary alterations.

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CHK demands 400 medical staff to tackle Covid-19 cases

KARACHI:Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) administration has moved a summery to Sindh Health Department for posting of medical staff, including 48 doctors, to deal with Coronavirus (COVID-19) emergency situation.

 

The CHK administration has demanded 200 staff nurses, 100 paramedical staff, 48 doctors (male and female) and other staff to counter COVID-19 pandemic. A summery has been moved by the health department for hiring of healthcare workers for 89 days or on regular basis.

 

Additional Medical superintendent, CHK, Dr Ismail Memon, while talking to PPI, said that the Sindh health department had sought reports about required staff for COVID-19 wards and a formal summery had been moved to the authorities concerned with demands.

 

He informed that hospital urgently needed 200 skilled nurses, 100 paramedics, 48 doctors and other staff to deal with coronavirus situation.

 

Presently, at CHK, 900 posts are lying vacant including doctors, nurses, paramedics, support staff and administrative staff. The shortage of staff has badly affected the performance of this institution.

 

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ASH faces multifarious problems due to financial crunch

KARACHI:The management of Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH) has been facing multiple problems in running the affairs of the hospital as high-ups at Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and Sindh government have unable to address financial problems of the healthcare, credible sources at the hospital informed PPI on Sunday.

 

According to these sources, the number of visiting patients and their admissions have also declined at this third largest public sector hospital of Karachi due to KMC’s financial crisis. The hospital’s financial and administrative affairs are largely being run on limited KMC-funding and philanthropic donations since 10 years.

 

The shortage of staff and life-saving medicines, unavailability of advanced diagnostic facilities, suspension of food supply to patients, non-operational wards, insufficient supply of water, out of order equipment and other problems have badly affected the smooth functioning of this major health institution.

 

Sources told PPI that more than 700 posts, including that of doctors, nurses, paramedical and administrative staff, are lying vacant in the hospital which has badly affected the functioning of this major healthcare facility. There were 2,100 sanctioned posts in the institution out of them over 700 are lying vacant.

 

Not a single employee has been hired in this health facility for last 10 years. The shortage of doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and administrative staff has badly affected the performance of this healthcare facility.

 

The major diagnostic machines are very old and outdated. The MRI machine, ventilators, incubators and other equipment are also lying out of order while the administration is unable to get them repaired due to shortage of funds.

 

The 900-plus bed hospital did not receive even 15 per cent of its budgetary allocation with the result that all units of the hospital, including intensive care and emergency units face an acute shortage of life-saving medicines and other essential items.

 

The major departments of hospital are on verge of closure due to shortage of specialist doctors and consultants. The junior doctors are running these departments due to unavailability of seniors.

 

The patients are facing hardship due to the dearth of specialist doctors in hospital, but KMC administration and Sindh government authorities concerned have miserably failed provide staff to institution to improve patients care.

 

The financial crisis has seriously affected almost every service of the healthcare facility, which once provided not only costly medicines free of cost but also food to its indoor patients. Currently, 40 per cent of the diagnostic machines at the facility are out of order.

 

Director, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH), Dr Salma Kauser, was not available for comments.

 

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Sindh appoints seven doctors at JPMC; decision opposed

KARACHI:Sindh Health Department has posted seven doctors in Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC). However, JPMC doctors association has demanded withdrawal of notification about the posting of the doctors.

 

The following doctors Dr Shazia Shahnawaz, Dr Erum Ilahi, Dr Raja Mummed M Ussab, Dr Abdul Kaleem Khooso, Dr Sajjad Ali Bughio, and Dr Farrukh Hussain were posted in JPMC on vacant posts from different hospitals of Sindh.

 

President JPMC’s Doctors Association Dr Naeem Khan and Senior Vice-President Dr Ghulam Shabbir have expressed their reservation over posting of doctors in the hospital and added that JPMC is a federal healthcare entity, so Sindh government could not post doctors in it.

 

They informed that uncertainty was prevalent among doctors and other staff following the illegal posting of doctors in JPMC. They demanded of the Sindh government to withdraw/cancel this decision; otherwise, doctors would boycott OPDs to record protest.

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20 more Covid patients die in country with 1,502 new cases

ISLAMABAD:As many as 1502 new coronavirus cases were reported and 20 more patients died of the virus disease overnight in Pakistan. The country-wide death toll from the virus has surged to 6,408so far since the outbreak of the disease in February.

 

According to the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation, and Coordination’s report issued on Saturday, a total of 341753 people have been tested positive for the coronavirus disease in the country since its outbreak in February 2020, out of which 148,922 cases were in Sindh, 106,208 in Punjab, 13,991in Balochistan, 16,041 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 21,302 in Islamabad, 4,343 in Gilgit-Baltistan, and 4,652 in Azad Kashmir.

 

However, 317,898 patients have recovered from the disease so far. There is continuous rise in the coronavirus cases and deaths across the country.