Karachi: The 12-year-old nephew of Sindh Governor Imran Ismail faced a tough time getting life-saving treatment in Karachi after he was bitten by a dog.
This was disclosed by Sindh Governor’s brother, Adnan Ismail, on Tuesday as he addressed a press conference along with Opposition Leader in the Sindh Assembly, Haleem Adil Shaikh, belonging to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
Adnan Ismail informed the media that a day earlier they had to check with several hospitals in Karachi for availability of anti-rabies vaccine for emergency treatment of his son, but to no avail.
He said the vaccine to treat dog bite cases was not available even in small private hospitals in the city.
He said a frantic search finally ended at a large private hospital in Karachi that was known for charging exorbitant fees for providing health care services.
“Treatment of my son continued for seven hours involving anaesthesia, stitches, x-ray, drips, and medicines, and lastly I came to the conclusion that a common man simply couldn’t afford this treatment at the private health care facility with a meagre monthly salary from Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000,” said Ismail.
The Opposition Leader in the Sindh Assembly said that in such bleak circumstances the Sindh government had no option but to agree to the programme of issuing health insurance cards for people of the province to let them get the best health care facilities at the elite private hospitals in the cities.
He said the people of Sindh did have the right to get the health card facility as much as their brethren in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who had already been enrolled for the health care programme.
He said that earlier children in Sindh had lost their lives in dire circumstances after their parents were unable to arrange vaccines in cases of being bitten by dogs.
