LARKANA: The 12-bed Thalassaemia Centre established in the Paeds Medicine Department of the Chandka Medical College Hospital (CMCH) during 2011 has acquired the services of costly CVS (Chronic Villus Sampling) test with the cooperation of Thalassaemia Care Centre of Badin. This was revealed in a letter written to the CMCH Medical Superintendent (MS) by the Chairman, Department of Pediatrics, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University here on Tuesday.
The letter further added that it is the only test which prevents spreading of Thalassaemia which was not available in the Centre. It costs between Rs 15,000 to 25,000 at private laboratories of Karachi and Aga Khan Hospital charge between Rs 40,000 to 50,000. As many as 872 patients are registered at the centre now and the number is constantly rising which is providing all other required facilities free of cost including medicines and blood and transfusion. The Chairman has advised the couples/family having Thalassaemia patients, to contact the in-charge of the Centre Dr. Hassan Chandio for CVS without any cost. The number of registered patients on May 08, 2017 was 853 and 19 new patients have been registered in less than two months period which shows the gravity of the issue. The Centre was planned to be handed over to Fatimid Foundation by the CMCH authorities due to non-availability of trained staff and other required facilities.
The in-charge of the Ccentre, Dr. Hassan Chandio, said that for this test the couples will only have to bear to & fro traveling cost to Badin where they will be given 24-hour free lodging boarding facilities along with food and the CVS test will also be conducted without payment adding it will help in preventing the dreaded disease to a very large scale from further spreading for which he is doing genetic counseling here with all the patients. He said about 18 patients have been sent to Badin for the same test. He said that this Centre still lack other essential required test facilities & equipment which are yet to be made available for the benefit of the poor needy patients. He thanked Dr. Haroon Memon, in-charge of Badin Centre for extending much needed help to the Centre and its patients without any charge.
Sources disclosed that Fatimid Foundation has demanded initial payment of a very handsome amount to run this Centre at the very outset. It must also be mentioned here that a new Thalassaemia Centre is also under-construction in the Children Hospital which will soon be completed but recruiting its required trained staff will take more time to run it purely on needed modern scientific lines.
Published in Daily Times, July 5th , 2017.
