Doctors and medics have put lives on line while treating patients with viral infections, as except few urban hospitals, most of government hospitals in the country lack safety and protective equipment and infrastructure to deal with infectious diseases, this includes very basic items like gloves and masks.
According to health experts here on Saturday, almost all rural government hospitals and numerous urban government hospitals have inadequate facilities when it comes to managing viral infections. Recent outbreak of Coronavirus globally has raised questions on capabilities and preparations of public sector hospitals.
They believe that emergency needs to be declared to equip all hospitals with key requirements to handle viral infections or any outbreak could have devastating results. They pointed out that as per international standard, 'personal protective equipment' (PPE) refers to protective clothing, helmets, gloves, face shields, goggles, facemasks and/or respirators or other equipment designed to protect the wearer from injury or the spread of infection or illness. "PPE is commonly used in healthcare settings, such as hospitals, doctor's offices and clinical labs," they added.
According to them, when used properly, PPE acts as a barrier between infectious materials, such as viral and bacterial contaminants and your skin, mouth, nose, or eyes (mucous membranes). Along with PPE, isolation wards and devices to measure presence of viruses and bacterias are also not seen in many key hospitals across Sindh. It has also been learnt that DRAP is also playing a role in depriving local hospitals and health professionals of PPE, as hundreds of requests of local companies to produce PPEs are pending in the registration board of DRAP. For an underdeveloped country like Pakistan with inadequate healthcare facilities, it takes around 2.5 years typically to register a product.
"Recent deadly gas inhalation incident in Karachi, which claimed 14 lives, showed that hospitals did not have enough oxygen supply to treat patients. One can easily gauge the preparations for any viral outbreak," they added.
The health practitioners and experts have demanded the Government to look into it and provide necessary equipment and infrastructure to counter viral infections and outbreaks.