News
Amputees figure could reach to 1000 in various hospitals
ISLAMABAD, Nov 19 : Nearly 633 cases of amputations and 466 paraplegics/spinal injuries have so far been reported in various health facilities of the country since the massive earthquake of 7.6 magnitude on the Richter scale in the northern parts of NWFP and AJK on October 8.
According to Prof Fazle Hadi, Executive Director Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) who is also heading a national committee on amputations and paraplegic said the amputations figure could reach up to maximum 1000. Out of total registered 633 amputation cases, around 50 per cent are female patients and rest are male, sources said adding over 111 amputees are children or below 16 years of age.
Talking to reporters, he said that according to statistics of earthquake patients with regard to amputations and hospital-wise break-up, PIMS Islamabad, 124 cases including male, 62, female, 72, Federal Government Services Hospital, 14 amputations (M-10, F-7), CDA Hospital, 12 (M-6, F-6), Rawalpindi General Hospital, 4 (M-19, F-23), DHQ Rawalpindi, 5 (M-2, F-3), NESCOM Hospital, 3 (M-2, F-1), KRL Hospital, 7 (M-4, F-3), Holy Family Hospital Rawalpindi, 19 (M-8, F-11), Railway Hospital, 0, Social Security Hospital Islamabad, 7 (M-5, F-3), Cantonment Hospital Rawalpindi, 24 (M-14, F-10), Fauji Foundation Hospital, 17 (M-10, F-7), Shifa International Hospital, 5 (M-3, F-2), NWFP, 159 (M-79, F-80), AJK, 504 (M-200, F-304), Military Hospital Rawalpindi, 185 (M-90, F-95), PNS Hafeez Navy Hospital Islamabad, 4 (M-3, F-1) and Murshid Hospital, Karachi, 2 (M-1, F-1).
Fazle Hadi said that statistics gathered from different hospitals revealed that there are 466 cases of paraplegic and spinal injuries since October 8 earthquake.
The hospital-wise break up of paraplegic cases, PIMS 139 (M-37, M-102), FGSH/Polyclinic hospital 13 (M-7, F-6), DHQ Hospital Rawalpindi 97 (M-36, F-61), Holy Family Hospital Rawalpindi 18 (M-12, F-6), Social Security Hospital Islamabad 6 (M-2, F-4), Abbas Institute of Medical Sciences Muzaffarabad 12 (M-5, F-7), Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad, 70 (M-22, F-48) and Military Hospital Rawalpindi, 111 including Male, 52 and Female 59 patients.
These paraplegics also include 53 children, ED PIMS pointed out.
Prof Dr Fazle Hadi said that there are at least three rehabilitation centers for paraplegics inn Pakistan, which include National Instituted of Handicapped Islamabad, 60-bed facility, Armed Forces Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (AFIRM) Islamabad, 100-bed facility and Hayatabad Centre Peshawar, 15-100 bed facility for the patients.
Regarding the staff to be required for the paraplegics and amputees, he said that rehabilitation staff, orthopedic surgeons, Physiotherapists, Orthoses and Prosthesis specialists and psychotherapists would be desperately needed for the purpose.
It may be noted that federal government has proposed four locations for setting up three centers for providing artificial limbs at Islamabad, Muzaffarabad and Mansehra/Abbottabad.
Besides this, Prof. Hadi said those equipment to be required in such centers include specialized beds, special mattresses, physiotherapy equipment, wheelchairs (motorized ones for quadriplegics), crutches, orthoses, above knee walking calipers, below knee walking calipers, hip knee ankle foot orthoses, special shoes, equipment for occupational therapy and office equipment.
The proposed centers for handicapped and paraplegics are likely to be funded by International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) and Handicap International.
Other foreign sources for funding for these centers could be Handicap International, Limbless Society U.K., Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ICRC, WHO, APPNA, Rotary USA and Wheelchair Foundation USA.
Iran has already offered Pakistan to donate two mobile artificial limb centers and Italy is also considering providing such other facilities to Pakistan, sources said.