Ahead of Eid, private clinics and out patient departments (OPD) of hospitals appear crowded, as a number of factors join together to increase the number of diseases hitting people, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Eid, which is expected to be celebrated on Wednesday, will not be a joyful event for those who themselves or their family members are suffering from any disease. The number of patients reporting to hospitals has grown exponentially in the past weeks. Already, there was an endemic in the shape of dengue, which was increasing with every passing day but now patients infected with other diseases are also coming to hospitals and seeking medical treatment for diseases such as gastro, diarrhea, fever and diabetes.
Medical experts said that the monsoon season, endemic situations of dengue and Ramadan has coupled to increase diseases. Middle-aged Ali Akbar at Jinnah Hospital said that three members of his family are taking medical aid since the past two days due to different diseases. “My two children are suffering from malaria and gastro while my mother is diabetic and her condition also deteriorated and I have come there for their check up,” he said. Half of the family being sick is not a good fortune on this Eid, Akbar said.
Dr Ahmed Raza, who runs his private clinic at Garden Town, said that the number of patients in his clinic since the past two weeks has almost doubled. Many of these were fever and gastroenteritis patients. Many types of fever including typhoid, malaria and dengue are prevalent and it is because they spread through vector mosquitoes, he said. Monsoon rains have left accumulated water everywhere, which provides breeding hatcheries for mosquitoes that spread these fevers, Raza said.
According to Dr Shahid Malik of the Institute of Public Health, gastroenteritis infections, vector-borne and water-borne diseases and hostile weather were the major reasons why the number of patients has risen too high. The poor quality of food and impure water were the main reasons of spreading gastro-related infections, he added. Dr Shahid considered dengue not that much fatal as perceived but said that dengue fever patients make a notable share of the total number of patients attending hospitals these days. Along with providing breeding environment for mosquitoes, the muggy climate is also hostile for patients of asthma and bronchitis and they are forced to turn to hospitals for medical aid, he explained.
Another factor according to Dr Shahid is Ramadan as it affects patients of diabetes and ulcers. Such patients face problems due to fasting and ultimately need medical treatment. These patients need food after short intervals and are not advised to fast if they feel it difficult, he said. Allama Iqbal Medical College (AIMC) Principal Dr Javed Akram endorsed the reasons which Dr Shahid described but said that Ramadan-related patients did not make much part of the total numbers of patients. Another major factor, he considered important, is the poor ratio of patients vs hospitals. Ideally, there should be one bed for 20,000 people and one doctor for 15,000 people but in Pakistan the ratio is very much imbalance and there is hardly one bed for population of 50,000. He said attendance of patients at hospitals would lower as the season changes.
