LARKANA:UAE Consul General Bakheet Ateeq Al-Rumaithi visited Shaikh Zayed Women Hospital (SZWH) of the Chandka Medical College Hospital (CMCH) here on Sunday which was built by the then Ruler of Dubai Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan on the request of the then Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, over 45 years ago.

While addressing the gathering, Bakheet said that we are trying to establish such hospitals in Pakistan especially in Sindh and few hospitals have been established in some areas of Karachi and Khairpur with the cooperation of Hilal-e-Ahmer where treatment of patients is being provided satisfactorily and doctors and staff are also taking care of the patients. He said that demands made by the administration will be looked into and resolved on priority basis so that people should not feel any difficulty in getting medical treatment especially women and children.

Dr. Muhammad Juman Bahuto, Director General, Health Services, Sindh, claimed in his address on the occasion that Sindh Government is providing more facilities to this hospital where patients arrive from far flung areas of Sindh, Balochistan and lower part of Punjab. He said the golden jubilee (50 years) of the hospital will be celebrated after two years Dr. Juman said that 8973 delivery cases took place in SZWH in 2020 and all were discharged after treatment but he did not disclose deaths that occurred during the same year.

Prof. Shahida Magsi, Head of Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, said that in 2019 UAE Consul General also visited this hospital and after which repair and renovation work was carried out but there still are several issues. She said we provided treatment during covid pandemic and even to the patients who are suffering from Hepatitis.

She said patients have the facilities of lights, solar system, neat and clean beds and cold drinking water facilities but SZWH lacks vital arrangements of a modern Blood Bank and Laboratory fitted with latest equipment and instruments due to which patients face difficulties. She said due to unavailability of these vital facilities patients and their attendants have to go out and return late due to which deaths do occur. She further demanded a multi-store building and construction of paying wards which will cost about Rs15 million, she added.

Dr. Abdul Sattar Shaikh, CMCH Medical Superintendent, said that over 10,000 operations have been carried out since the beginning of this hospital 48 years ago and over 90,000 children have been born in this hospital. He said the SZWH hospital consists of two functional units having over 200 bed capacity and its daily OPD is over 300 women patients. He said SZWH needs to be upgraded due to an increase in the population. He thanked the distinguished guests for extending help. Dr. Shaikh also presented a traditional gift of Ajrak to the visitors.