Daily Times

KARACHI: A minor child, suffering with Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) cancer has been battling for life because since the last six months of late referral health system.

Kamran Ali Channa, a five year old boy from Ghotki’s Qadirpur Gas Field area developed some mass near his right ear some six months back. With the poor public health service facilities in his area, parents took him to Sindh and Punjab’s private health facilities but it was with no avail.

Sarcomas are cancers that develop from connective tissues in the body, such as muscles, fat, bones, the linings of joints, or blood vessels. There are many types of sarcomas. RMS is a cancer made up of cells that normally develop into skeletal muscles. The body has 3 main types of muscles.

“Well it is apparently case of late referral. Before Kamran was admitted to NICH, he had been operated twice within a stretch this period,” said Dr Jamal Raza, Director National Institute for Child Health (NICH). We are waiting for relevant laboratory tests results. We would start his treatment in the light of reports once we get results.

According to health experts, lack and poor health facilities at government run health units and hospitals in small cities have raised the miseries of patients just like the one in this case.

“In this particular case of cancer, if it might have been detected on an early stage, there were bright chances of saving his life. However the type of this particular case is different provided by the late detection, chances of patient’s survival become less,” Dr Raza opined.

In the first stage, parents took him to Sukkur’s private territory care hospital.

“At start it was just a small phurdi,” Imdad Ali, father of Kamran told Daily Times. “It took two months in Sukkur hospital before doctor’s referred the case to somewhere else or for better treatment. Had they referred on time and handled the case properly, misery could have been lessened,” he lamented.

Later on, Imdad took his son to Sheikh Zayed Medical College Rahim Yar Khan/Hospital. After spending more than two weeks there, hospital administration referred me to take my son either to Lahore or Karachi for treatment.

According to Imdad, a taxi driver is bearing his son’s expenses by mortgaging his vehicle but he is unable to bear his expenses further. He appealed to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Governor and Chief Minister of Sindh, Maryam Nawaz and local political leadership to help him financially in order to save the life of his son.