Daily Times

KARACHI: The Sindh Health Department has failed to finalise the project of establishing five burn centres throughout the province despite the lapse of several years due to bureaucratic apathy.

The Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) is the only hospital that has a burn centre, which had annually catered more than 3,000 burn cases of patients that come from all parts of the Sindh province. However, a large number of other burn patients die on way while being shifted from far-flung rural areas to Karachi.

According to sources, it was stated in 2009 that the provincial government had announced that five burn centres would be established at Liaquatabad. Sindh Government Hospital, Liaquat Medical University Hospital in Jamshoro, Chandka Medical College Hospital in Larkana, Ghulam Muhammad Mehar Medical Collage in Sukkur and Civil Hospital in Mirpurkhas to treat the patients with burn injuries at local level in the province.

The construction of five burn centres was initiated by the then health minister Sindh in 2009, with a cost of approximately Rs 2,55 million and the project was supposed to be completed in 2011 but the provincial next administrations failed to finish this project despite lapse of several years.

The deaths from serious burn injuries due to cylinder blast, fire, acid, electricity and other reasons every year can be minimised if these burns centres are completed and made operational but unfortunately this important project has still to see the daylight.

The 70 beded Burns Centre of CHK in Karachi is being operated under private partnership and this Centre alone could not meet the actual requirement of patients with burns injuries. The patients and their attendants also face great hardship when they arrive at the Burns Centre Karachi as there is no place for them to stay.

To shift patients from rural areas to Karachi is unaffordable for poor families. Sindh Health Secretary Dr Fazlullah Pechuho was not available for comment.