Daily Times

Ever since the coronavirus outbreak took hold of the country, patients with other illnesses are now falling through the cracks.

The suspension of OPDs in government hospitals has caused serious problems for the poor patients inflicted with other ailments, as they are being deprive of treatment. They are forced to visit private clinics because of which they are also undergoing severe financial strain.

Many hospitals have been converted into facilities for treating only patients of coronavirus. Elsewhere, other facilities have closed amid shortages of medical workers or rejected patients because of fears of cross-infection in the wards. Elective surgeries have been postponed indefinitely. Govt has already imposed travel restrictions and quarantine requirements that, for many critically ill patients, mean delays they cannot afford.

In public hospitals, routine checkups, x-rays, ultrasounds and minor operations have been deferred until the situation normalises.

Abdul Rauf, a resident of Landhi Town, said that he went to welfare clinic of the kidney centre, due to closure of welfare clinic he had to consult to a private clinic, which cost him a amount of 4000/-rupees.

I am a daily-wage worker lives from hand to mouth, facing financial problems as it is. With additional medical expenses together with the scare of the virus, life for poor people has become a living hell,” he said. “I hope the situation gets better soon so that we can go back to our normal lives.

An administrative official at Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital, told , each day, around 70 cancer patients visit the hospital’s OPD. The closure of the OPDs of all hospitals is complicating the case of many patients, especially those suffering from blood cancer. Many cancer patients are also hesitant to visit the hospital because they are more vulnerable to contracting the virus.

Moreover, OPD services at Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi cater to 7,000 patients daily, the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) provides treatment to 8,000 patients, Lyari General Hospital attends to 3,000 patients, the National Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases handles 7,000 patients, and Abbasi Shaheed Hospital caters to 5,000 patients each day.

In total, over 50,000 patients show up at 19 government hospitals in Karachi alone every day, while about 30,000 patients make their way to public hospitals and health care facilities across 28 districts of Sindh. This means that about 80,000 citizens have been deprived of OPD services at public hospitals.

COVID-19 scare has also drastically reduced the trend of voluntary blood donation and number of blood donors who serve as a critical source of treatment for thalassaemia patients.

According to doctors, thalassaemic children in Sindh need nearly 150 blood transfusions per month, while a total of 1.8 million blood transfusions are needed across the country every year to meet the demand.

Reports show that Pakistan has over 100,000 children suffering from thalassaemia, out of which 45,000 hail from Sindh and Balochistan. Saving the lives of children inflicted with blood diseases has become a challenge for medical practitioners owing to the dearth of blood donors.

A renowned haematologist of National Institute of Blood Diseases, in a statement, says that the coronavirus poses serious risks to the lives of patients with underlying medical conditions or other diseases.

Apart from the suspension of OPD services at public hospitals, the treatment of serious diseases, such as cancer and thalassaemia, which requires regular blood transfusions, have also been moved to the back burner for the time being.

According to sources, authorities had decided to halt OPD services at public hospitals to lower the pandemic risk, due to a lack of awareness among the masses about protective measures to contain the coronavirus. However, as a result, thousands of patients in Sindh have nowhere to go for the treatment of their conditions. Most patients are not even accustomed to the use of tele-medicine, because of which their problems are getting worse day by day.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Member of National Assembly (MNA) Iqbal Siddiqui, while giving his point of view to Daily Times said, the public OPDs across the city are still closed. The situation is same at private hospitals except Patel and Zia Uddin hospitals, though people are reluctant to go there for fear of being expensive said Siddiqui. This situation complicating the case of many patients, especially those suffering from blood cancer and thalassaemia. He added.

He said, Hospitals which were converted into temporary quarantine should have moved out of the hospital so that routine patients could be treated in OPDs.

Speaking to Daily Times, Director General Health Sindh, Dr Irshad Memon said, OPDs are no longer closed, they are operational and hospital running fully. on the contrary, our sources confirmed that OPDs in public hospital are still not functional.

Senior medical experts says, the concern is the coronavirus containment efforts may be saving some lives while, patients having other disease could get really a bad outcome if they don’t get care.