ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's fifty-plus Christian missionary hospitals have been providing healthcare services to the underprivileged at the lowest possible cost for over a century, but they are now finding it difficult to continue their services in the face of increasing inflation and number of patients.
The Christian Hospital Taxila, known across the country for affordable treatment, is one of the missionary medical facilities that receive more than 120,000 patients annually, resulting in a burden on its limited resources.
“All Christian hospitals including this one [in Taxila], their mission is to give quality care at the lowest possible cost,” Dr. Ashchenaz Lall, director at the medical facility, told Arab News this week in an interview. “And this puts a lot of financial constraints because we earn and spend, getting no help from outside.”
Covering more than 30 acres of area, the hospital is located at the center of the city – some 35 kilometers northwest of Islamabad. It was established in 1920 with the help of the Presbyterian Church of the United States, and its Anglo-Indian style colonial building provides a brief history of the area as well. It is a general hospital but is best known for its treatment of blindness.
“We have reasonable equipment but have the desire to continue improving it because that ultimately affects patients,” said Lall who is also chairman of Christian Hospitals Association of Pakistan (CHAP) that patronizes over 50 missionary hospitals across the country.
Lall said the missionary hospitals required different diagnostic and surgical equipment to take better care of patients, but the lack of resources was hampering the desire to expand their medical facilities to cater to the maximum number of people. The missionary hospitals are located in different cities of the country, including Peshawar, Abbottabad, Chitral, Lahore, Sahiwal, Quetta, and Karachi.
“Our mission is to help the people of Pakistan irrespective of their caste, color, creed, or race,” he said while checking patients in his small cubicle.
Different departments of the hospital including eye, urology and cardiac are packed with hundreds of patients, including women and children, and the hospital staff keeps sending them to relevant doctors with a smile on their faces.
“I have been to many hospitals before, but the doctors here have treated me well,” Azhar Mahmood, a patient who came to the medical facility from Khushab district in Pakistan’s Punjab province, told Arab News.
The patients who come from remote areas are admitted to relevant wards for free and are then operated and treated.
“We get genuine medicine here… we are poor people and come here for treatment,” Zeenat Bibi, 80, who is admitted in the hospital for cataract surgery, told Arab News. “We have complete trust in the doctors here.”
To cope with the shortage of different facilities, Lall said the administration was planning to start a nursing hospital from next year to meet the shortage of health workers. “We also want to start laparoscopic surgery and need equipment for that, improve other surgical procedures, and start a medical store 24/7 for the general public,” he said.
The world faces a shortfall of 18 million health workers to accelerate universal health coverage by 2030, particularly in low and lower-middle-income countries, according to a recent report by the World Health Organization.
The hospital administration looks toward local and foreign donors to start all these and other projects. “There have been donors in the past. They have helped this hospital also in providing equipment and other things, but for a very long time, there is no donation as such,” he said.
“Probably their [donors'] policies have changed, [or] the donation has exhausted,” he said.
With the arrival of Christmas, Lall appeals the donors to provide funds to the missionary hospitals in Pakistan, so that they continue to serve humanity.
“Christmas is a time to celebrate and it’s a thanksgiving occasion also,” he said. “Our hospitals will always welcome help in different shapes, in the form of equipment, other diagnostic facilities, and if they can help us financially, hospitals will welcome it.”
Pakistan's missionary hospitals look for donors to expand healthcare services
https://arab.news/8nz68
Pakistan's missionary hospitals look for donors to expand healthcare services
- 50-plus missionary hospitals across the country face financial constraints to provide quality medical care
- The mission of these hospitals "is to give quality care at the lowest possible cost"
‘Super Flu’: Pakistan confirms presence of fast-spreading H3N2 influenza strain
- Health authorities say virus is not new but shows higher transmission rate
- WHO reports global rise in seasonal influenza cases, especially in Europe
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani health authorities on Monday confirmed the presence of the H3N2 influenza strain, often referred to as a fast-spreading “super flu,” in the country, but stressed there was no cause for panic, saying the virus is not new and remains manageable with standard treatment and vaccination.
Officials said the strain is part of seasonal influenza viruses that circulate globally each year and has undergone genetic changes that make it spread more quickly, a pattern health experts say is common for influenza.
The confirmation comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) reports a global increase in seasonal influenza activity in recent months, with a growing proportion of influenza A(H3N2) cases detected, particularly across several European countries, including the United Kingdom.
“Yes, we have witnessed confirmed cases of H3N2 influenza (super Flu) in Pakistan since November this year. Out of total around 1,691 cases reported throughout Pakistan since last month, 12 percent are of the so called super flu,” Dr. Shafiq-Ur-Rahman, Senior Scientific Officer at Pakistan’s Center for Disease Control (CDC), told Arab News.
He said the virus had undergone a genetic drift, a gradual mutation that is typical of influenza viruses.
“The symptoms are similar to other influenza strains, but speed of transmission is high for H3N2,” Rahman said, adding that treatment remains the same as for other flu types and vaccination is critical to limiting spread.
Seasonal influenza is an acute respiratory infection caused by influenza viruses that circulate year-round worldwide. The WHO has stressed that influenza continues to evolve through gradual genetic changes, making ongoing surveillance and regular vaccine updates essential.
Influenza spreads easily through droplets when infected people cough or sneeze. While most individuals recover within a week without medical treatment, the illness can range from mild to severe and may result in hospitalization or death, particularly among high-risk groups such as young children, older adults, pregnant women and people with underlying health conditions.
Doctors say early symptoms of the flu can resemble those of the common cold, but the progression often differs. Colds typically develop gradually, beginning with a runny or blocked nose, sneezing and sore throat, followed by mild coughing and fatigue.
Flu symptoms, however, tend to appear suddenly and more intensely, with patients often experiencing high fever, extreme tiredness, body aches, headaches and a dry cough.
Health experts say this abrupt and severe onset is usually the clearest indication that an illness is influenza rather than a common cold, which is generally milder and slower to develop.
