Abbasi Shaheed Hospital is facing a severe shortage of life-saving medicines and staff as only Rs around 900,000 has been allocated for medicines in the current fiscal year. Sources privy to the development said that only 50 of the required staff is available to treat the 1,100 patients who visit the OPD daily. They added that out of 154 posts for Resident Medical Officers, only 89 are filled, and out of 200-250 nursing staff positions, only 93 staff nurses are available. Abbasi Shaheed Hospital – a medical facility administered by Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC)– also lacks life-saving drugs as millions of rupees are required for the purchase of medicines. Dr. Faisal said stated that the hospital has been facing staff and medicine shortages for many years, with no new hires since 2012.

He said that the hospital is being run despite limited resources, adding that they have arranged medicines for the OPD themselves. Dr. Faisal said that the hospital needs more than Rs 190 million to meet its drug requirements. “Mayor Karachi Barrister Murtaza Wahab assured us to take measures to improve the situation,” the Director Abbasi Shaheed Hospital added. Earlier, it was reported that along with medicine shortage, CT Scan and X-ray machines are also not functional for nearly four years. The X-ray machine is partially functional but it has no film and physicians take photos through mobile phones to examine the patients’ fractures. Sources said that Karachi Medical and Dental College was also facing financial crisis, whereas, its teaching hospital was facing scarcity of funds.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan