KARACHI:Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Saturday urged Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) to work out SOPs for clinics and suggest ways and means to launch telemedicine clinics so that patients of other diseases could be provided medical treatment.
This he said while talking to a PMA delegation here at CM House. The delegation members were Dr Qaisar Sajad, Dr Qazi Wasiq, Dr Sharif Hashmi and Dr Ghafoor Shoro. Minister Health Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, Advisor Law Murtaza Wahab, PSCM Sajid Jamal Abro, Secretary Health Zahid Abbasi, CM Focal Person Najam Shah and Additional Secretary Health Fayaz Abbasi also attended the meeting.
The delegation members suggested the chief minister to totally separate coronavirus patients from regular hospitals, including Tertiary Care Centers so that regular patients could be attended. They also said that PGs should be inducted at the COVID-19 centers after giving them proper training of COVID-19 management and treatment.
This would help overcome the shortage of professionals, the PMA suggested. Minister Health Dr Azra said that there were 45,000 PGs and the health dept wanted to start their online training. She urged the PMA team to help the government in overcoming the shortage of medical and paramedical staff.
The PMA also suggested that the lockdown should have been earlier and strict but this could not happen, therefore, local spread took place. Replying to the PMA members, the chief minister said that he was of the view to impose lockdown all over Pakistan from March 15 with suspension of all the travel and other facilities, but he failed to bring the federal and other provincial governments to his views and apprehensions, therefore, imposition of lockdown became late.
Shah said that he was establishing isolation centers and field hospitals all over Sindh and the facilities would be almost out of the cities. “We are using our newly constructed health and education dept buildings and will utilize open grounds by installing marquees there.
The chief minister pointed out that there were four categories of the coronavirus patients. Those who came by air, pilgrims from Iran, people of Tablighi Jamaat, and local transmission. “We have succeeded in isolating pilgrims in Sukkur and people of Tablighi Jamaat in different districts, therefore, virus couldn’t spread from them,” he said and added “yes, it spread from those who came by air and went unchecked and spread the virus and now we are facing spread of virus in slums and katchi abadis,” he said.
Shah urged the PMA delegation to talk to their counterparts in other provinces and share Sindh’s experience with them and their experience, issues and problems with the Sindh government so that we could learn from our shortcomings.