PESHAWAR: Children suffering from pneumonia and other respiratory ailments the long dry and cold weather have increased, forcing the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) to declare emergency.
The officials said that the number of beds in major hospitals is not enough to accommodate all the patients. The KTH administration has declared emergency while the situation in the major hospitals is also not satisfactory.
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More than a thousand children have been admitted in Lady Reading Hospital while KTH has received 336 children yesterday. The hospital has the capacity to admit 164 children. The report said that there are also hundreds of children in other hospitals, suffering from pneumonia and other respiratory diseases.
Dr Sabahat Amir, Chairperson, Department of Child Health, KTH, informed the hospital management in writing about the emergency situation and requested that the number of patients suffering from seasonal diseases has multiplied. Dr Amir said that due to the high number sick children and newborns, the staff of pediatric department are facing severe difficulties in performing their duties. The medical staff and services are for the care of only 164 patients but in the last 24 hours 336 children have been admitted to the hospital which is the highest number in the last few weeks.
The reports said dozens children have died in the last few weeks.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is worst hit by climate change as the province has not received sufficient rain in the last one year. The pollution level should be at least 25 microgram per cubic meter but in Pakistan, especially in Peshawar and Lahore, the pollution is above 300 per cubic meter. Children with low immunity system are unable to cope with intense dry and cold climate but such communicated diseases can be stopped through vaccination. Health experts said that there will have no rush on children hospitals if the children were vaccinated.
Last month, the Sifat Ghayoor Shaheed Children hospital in Peshawar had received 18000 child patients. Most the diseases were associated with the changing weather. Doctors have said that most of the children are infected with Asthma, pneumonia, diarrhea and hepatitis as parents of most of the patients had not immunised their children against these diseases.