Gert van der Hoek
In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator
Thousands risk death by hepatitis in Naushahro Feroze
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
By our correspondent
NAUSHAHRO FEROZE: Two hundred people have died of Hepatitis in the district over the last three years and thousands more at risk face death.
Medical Superintendent, Civil Hospital, Naushahro Feroze, Dr Abdul Qadir Panhwar, told this correspondent that about 500 registered Hepatitis patients were waiting for medicines for the last 10 months and only 300 patients had been supplied with the medicine.
He said 33 constables of the police headquarters, Naushahro Feroze, were found suffering from Hepatitis B and C after 178 samples of police constables were scanned. About 1,800 police constables remain to be scanned, he said.
He said around 1,000 samples of various villages could not be tested due to shortage of staff in the Civil Hospital. He said villages including Aacher Khoso, Dhegano Chandio, Lukar Brohi, Shakar Brohi, Ramzan Brohi, Ghar Gajoo and Moosa Panhwar were most affected by the disease in the district.
Talking to this correspondent, Abdul Haleem Chandio, a resident of village Laiq Chandio, said 35 people, including women and children, had died due to the disease during the last three years and 39 people out of the population of 85 were suffering from Hepatitis B in the village.
Haji Khan Chandio, a resident of village Dhegano Chandio, said seven people, including women and children of a family, had died due to this disease in the last three years and 200 people out of the population of 800 were suffering from Hepatitis B in the village.
Abdul Riaz Khoso, a resident of village Aacher Khoso, said 20 people, including women and children, had died of the disease during the last three years. Eighty people out of a population of 200 are suffering from Hepatitis B in the village, he said.
A survey conducted by this correspondent revealed that thousands of cases of Hepatitis B and C existed in the district but there was no one to scan them. People have been left to die and there seems to be no help forthcoming.
There is a dire need that the Health Ministry takes immediate notice of the situation and sends medical teams to combat this scourge. And a large quantity of medicine of Hepatitis B and C is also required immediately.
It has been learnt that Rs 1.5 lakh are required for one patient?s treatment, which the poor patients cannot afford and are worried about their dark future.
When this correspondent visited the affected villages of the district, the villagers complained that they had not received even one tablet from the Civil Hospital and the tests were also not being conducted free of cost.
The tests of Hepatitis are expensive and beyond the reach of poor villagers.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=150272
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
By our correspondent
NAUSHAHRO FEROZE: Two hundred people have died of Hepatitis in the district over the last three years and thousands more at risk face death.
Medical Superintendent, Civil Hospital, Naushahro Feroze, Dr Abdul Qadir Panhwar, told this correspondent that about 500 registered Hepatitis patients were waiting for medicines for the last 10 months and only 300 patients had been supplied with the medicine.
He said 33 constables of the police headquarters, Naushahro Feroze, were found suffering from Hepatitis B and C after 178 samples of police constables were scanned. About 1,800 police constables remain to be scanned, he said.
He said around 1,000 samples of various villages could not be tested due to shortage of staff in the Civil Hospital. He said villages including Aacher Khoso, Dhegano Chandio, Lukar Brohi, Shakar Brohi, Ramzan Brohi, Ghar Gajoo and Moosa Panhwar were most affected by the disease in the district.
Talking to this correspondent, Abdul Haleem Chandio, a resident of village Laiq Chandio, said 35 people, including women and children, had died due to the disease during the last three years and 39 people out of the population of 85 were suffering from Hepatitis B in the village.
Haji Khan Chandio, a resident of village Dhegano Chandio, said seven people, including women and children of a family, had died due to this disease in the last three years and 200 people out of the population of 800 were suffering from Hepatitis B in the village.
Abdul Riaz Khoso, a resident of village Aacher Khoso, said 20 people, including women and children, had died of the disease during the last three years. Eighty people out of a population of 200 are suffering from Hepatitis B in the village, he said.
A survey conducted by this correspondent revealed that thousands of cases of Hepatitis B and C existed in the district but there was no one to scan them. People have been left to die and there seems to be no help forthcoming.
There is a dire need that the Health Ministry takes immediate notice of the situation and sends medical teams to combat this scourge. And a large quantity of medicine of Hepatitis B and C is also required immediately.
It has been learnt that Rs 1.5 lakh are required for one patient?s treatment, which the poor patients cannot afford and are worried about their dark future.
When this correspondent visited the affected villages of the district, the villagers complained that they had not received even one tablet from the Civil Hospital and the tests were also not being conducted free of cost.
The tests of Hepatitis are expensive and beyond the reach of poor villagers.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=150272