Daily Times

LARKANA: Kidney-failure patients are suffering seriously at Dialysis Center of Chandka Medical College Hospital (CMCH), Larkana, as only seven dialysis machines out of sixteen are operational.

The remaining nine dialysis machines are out of order and unable to fulfill the huge load of poor patients. These nine machines are outdated & cannot be repaired as their parts are not available even with the manufacturers and their suppliers in Pakistan.

The ten years old seven working machines are nearly expired. As many as 1200 patients get dialysis monthly in CMCH. Five machines are reserved at the moment for Hepatitis negative and two for Hepatitis C patients.

In this regard, Medical Superintendent at CMCH, Dr. Javed Ali Shaikh, has informed health secretary that at least 16 new dialysis machines are urgently required to cater to the needs of the patients that arrive here from far flung & remote areas of interior Sindh, parts of Balochistan & lower part of Punjab.

He said that there are no extra machines which can be reserved for HIV/AIDS positive patients adding there is no machine even for children which may also be supplied to cater to their needs. It must be mentioned here that child patients are always referred to Karachi for dialysis as this center has never been supplied machines for this category since its birth.