NAROWAL: People suffering from kidney complications in Shakargarh are facing severe difficulties due to the non-availability of dialysis units in local government and private hospitals.

Shakargarh tehsil consists of more than 650 villages where cases of kidney complications are increasing day by day. Patients have to travel to Sialkot, Gujranwala and Lahore for treatment.

In 2009, the Punjab government provided dialysis units at the Narowal District Headquarters Hospital to facilitate the patients with dialysis. These units provide the facility to 90 patients in a week, an of them, 51 patients are from tehsil Shakargarh, 10 from Narowal and 29 patients are from Zafarwal tehsil. The number shows that Shakargarh tehsil is facing a gave situation but there is no dialysis facility in the tehsil.

Patients with kidney failure need dialysis twice a week, which means patients from Shakargarh come to the Narowal DHQ hospital twice a week for dialysis. C

Patients travel to Narowal twice a week

Members of the public Muhammad Ali and Farooq Wahla said that people have been forced to drink contaminated water due to the non-availability of water filtration plants in the area, which caused kidney-related complications among the residents. They said that a patient had to travel 45 km from Shakargarh to the DHQ hospital for dialysis.

Psychologist Dr Mumtaz Butt said there were no employment opportunities in the Narowal district and subsequently people were suffering from severe mental stress.

Senior Dr Muhammad Afzal and Dr Muhammad Bilal said that the incidence of human kidney failure was on the rise due to substandard water, mental stress, high blood pressure and diabetes. He said that in order to be safe from kidney diseases, the use of unnecessary and substandard medicines also be avoided.

Chief Executive Officer of the District Health Authority Dr Khalid Javed has said there was no programme to set up a dialysis unit in the Shakargarh Tehsil Headquarters Hospital. He said that in view of the increasing number of dialysis patients in Shakargarh Tehsil, the Punjab government should give permission and funds to set up a dialysis centre in Shakargarh.

“If the government provides permission and funds, we will immediately set up a dialysis centre at the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital,” he said.

Citizens demanded that Chief Minister Usman Bazdar set up a dialysis unit at the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, Shakargarh.

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2021