Daily Times

LAHORE: It seems that healthcare is not a priority of the Punjab government as medicine budget of the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) – the prime heart care facility in the province – has been decreased by 9.35 percent for financial year (FY) 2016-17.

This act of the provincial government has raised question mark over its health priorities, despite knowing that the number of cardiovascular diseases patients is increasing day by day.

In FY 2015-16, a sum of Rs 1.175 billion was allocated to purchase medicines, but now the Punjab government has slashed down the budget by 9.35 percent to Rs 1.1 billion. Also, the cost of medicines, disposable items and surgical equipment had witnessed an upward trend during the last few years owing to inflation and devaluation of the Pakistan’s currency.

Well-informed sources at the PIC, requesting anonymity, said that cut in medicine budget would largely affect deserving patients who were usually been given appointments after one-and-half to two years for bypass and CABG. Muhammad Rafique, a patient admitted to the PIC, has been given appointment to undergo angiography, a diagnostic test, in February 2017. Similar is the fate of patients undergoing angioplasty, added sources.

Sources said that the government was also going to inaugurate an under construction 100-bed new emergency ward at the hospital, which would require a sum of Rs 377.99 million annually to be run affectively. Moreover, a sum of Rs 218.833 million would be required only for drugs and medicines for the said ward. But keeping in view the cut in already existing facilities, it would be difficult for the hospital to cater to medical needs of growing number of cardiac patients. Around 2,000 to 2,500 patients daily visit the Out-patient Department (OPD), one of the largest patient volumes in a discipline (cardiology) in any teaching institute of the province so far.

Pertinent to mention here is that 600 to 800 patents visit the emergency ward of the hospital on a daily basis. Average stay of every patient is two hours. At any given time there are more than 50 patients in emergency and sometimes patients are accommodated either on wheel chairs or are compelled to share bed.

It may be mentioned that the PIC is the only hospital in the provincial capital that offers specialised facilities for management of complicated cardiac conditions through surgical interventions. However, keeping in view the population of the provincial capital, about 10 million, and of the province, around 90 million, it has become almost impossible for the hospital to manage such a large inflow of patients.