ABBOTTABAD: The death toll of burn patients in Hazara is drastically increasing due to the absence of burn units in hospitals across the region and the patients are usually sent to Punjab for treatment.
Ayub Teaching Hospital (ATH) has the only burn unit in the region with 20 beds and the capacity to treat only 30 to 40 per cent burn injuries but it has been inactive for the past two decades.
Unfortunately, the political elite of the region or the government have not paid due attention to this issue and dozens of burn patients have lost their lives while travelling to Punjab or Islamabad. Moreover, those who did not have the means to travel to Punjab or Islamabad died in miserable conditions.
During the last three weeks, four burn patients of Hazara region lost their lives in a hospital of Punjab.
After Ayub Medical College’s Assistant Professor Dr Mahwish Tariq suffered from burn injuries a few days ago and died in CMH Kharian, the medical director of ATC promised to make all-out efforts to upgrade and activate the hospital’s burn unit in order to facilitate the patients.
He also promised to hire the services of a plastic surgeon.