ISLAMABAD, Oct 30: There seems no end to the shortage of ventilators at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences even after the release of Rs75 million for the purchase of the life-supporting medical equipment.

Pims management, however, claims that 25 new ventilators worth Rs50 million would arrive by the end of November.

Meanwhile, the largest hospital of the capital remains cluttered with old, decaying and discarded ventilators. Nearly half of the 54 ventilators in the hospital are lying broken, while seven were retrieved and repaired recently.

A ventilator is a machine which helps a patient breathe by pumping air in and sucking it out of their lungs. It is mostly used in intensive care units (ICUs).

A medical officer at Pims requesting not to be identified said currently the hospital had 54 ventilators of which 15 were out of order.

“We have requested the management of the hospital to repair ventilators or buy new ones on several occasions. Every week, four to six patients die due to the unavailability of ventilators but it seems there is no one willing to resolve the patients’ problems,” he said.

A doctor at Pims working in the administration wing said the shortage of ventilators was a serious problem. He said last year, a patient, referred to the hospital by Chairman Senate Syed Nayyar Hussain Bukhari, could not obtain a ventilator. The chairman had taken serious notice of the issue and had even summoned the Executive Director of Pims for explanation.

“In March 2013, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) imposed ban on the release of new development funds. However, on the request of Mr Bukhari, the then chief election commissioner, considering the situation, allowed the release of funds for ventilators. The planning commission released Rs75 million but the ventilators could still not be purchased,” he said.

A citizen, Mohammad Naeem, while talking to Dawn said his mother-in-law was diabetic and had gone to the Capital Development Authority’s ‘Capital Hospital’ on January 29 this year for a radiological test of her stomach.

“Doctors gave her a medicine which was required before scanning her stomach, but she fainted. Doctors then suggested that she should be shifted on a ventilator. However, the staff said there was only one ventilator in the hospital which was already occupied,” he said.

“I went to the Polyclinic and Pims but the management of these two hospitals also refused to admit her because of the unavailability of ventilators. I then went to three private hospitals in Blue Area, H-8 and F-10 but there was not a single ventilator available in any hospital. My mother-in-law died after 48 hours,” he said.

“The Pims management should resolve the issue because people are losing their lives due to the lack of ventilators,” he said.

Executive Director Pims, Dr Mehmood Jamal, while talking to Dawn said the 15 ventilators which were out of order could not be repaired and the management had decided to buy new ones.“An order to buy 25 new ventilators (at Rs2 million each) has been placed but the company has delayed the delivery. I have contacted the company and by the end of November, the new ventilators will be available for patients,” he said.