A state of the art Burn Care Centre (BCC) established at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), the major hospital in the capital city, is unable to cater to the need of around 35 patients, against the capacity of 20, visiting the facility daily. The people, who come from far flung areas with patients seriously burnt, have demanded the government to increase the capacity of the centre, as most of them have to face disappointment when they arrive in the capital city owing to non-availability of space for their loved ones. The Burn Care Centre is the first of its kind facility in the public sector of Pakistan and rather south Asia, as it is in accordance with the latest international standards for the management of acute burn care and long-term sequel.
“I have come here from Lakki Marwat with my brother, who got seriously burnt, so that he could get recovered as there is no proper facility back in our district for the purpose. However, I have to face the same disappointment here as well after being told by the relevant authorities that there is no space for them,” said Sabir Rehman, a middle-aged man with anger on his face. A patient at the facility said the government should enhance its capacity so that more and more people could benefit from it, as at present, very few lucky people like me have the advantage whereas vast majority are returned without being treated.
It merits mention that burn victims mortality rate in Pakistan is beyond proportion when compared with other countries. For instance, according to official statements, mortality rate of a major burn, 40 to 50 percent, body surface area is 86 percent, whereas it is less than 20 percent in the developed world.
There are inadequate facilities for the management of burnt patients in the existing public and private sectors hospitals. Under the defence budget, there are burn centres at CMH Kharian, NESCOM Islamabad and POF Hospital Wah, where the majority of the beneficiaries are defence personnel, with a very few civil patients who can afford heavy expenses of treatment cost. The cost of burn care is enormous, over and above the ICU care. The cost for the medicines and supplies for these patients can be from Rs 4,000 to 12,000 per day, depending upon the nature of injuries.
Acute burn patients require specialised intensive care by trained technical staff. Burn patients need germ free environment, with monitoring and ventilator equipments. Controlled temperature and humidity are also the basic requirements.
