Mir Farhat
Srinagar, Jan 15: Government has left thousands of hemophiliac patients in the State at the mercy of nature as there is no anti-haemophilia factor available for them after last year’s floods.
The number of such patients which are registered in the Hemophiliac Day Care Center at SMHS are only 225, but at least 2500 families are affected by the disease in the State, according to an NGO that works for the hemophiliac patients.
An official in the SMHS hospital said the factor to treat the patients is not available after the last year’s floods. In absence of the factor, the official said all the patients are being referred to SKIMS.
Surprisingly, the machines used for producing plasma-derived products are also defunct after the floods. “The machine cryofuges that manufactures Fresh Frozen Plasma (FFP) got damaged in the floods and are not working till now,” the official said, wishing anonymity.
The SMHS Hospital also lacks a sophisticated laboratory to diagnose the patients. For treating patients, a sophisticated lab equipped with all the chemicals and reagents is needed to properly diagnose the patients’ blood sample. “But we have a simple lab, its standard has to be upgraded,” the official said.
Last year, Government Medical College Srinagar had submitted a proposal of Rs.5.58 crore to the Health Department, but it has released only Rs 75 lakh to the hospital.
Irked by the callous attitude of the Government, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court had also last year directed it to keep the factor available for 24 hours in the SMHS hospital. The patients said the Government has disobeyed the court ruling also.
A 27-year-old hemophiliac youth, who has lost two of his brothers due to the disease, has also been infected by it.
“All the patients like me are being neglected by the Government. There is no Factor available to us in the hospitals, particularly at SMHS. We are dependent on factor frozen plasma, which often shows no impact on the disease,” he said, but did not want to be named.
A young female, whose two children are suffering from the disease said that she has visited SMHS and SKIMS for medicines for her two children. But she had to return disappointed. “I am worried for the life of my sons. The lack of drugs can complicate their disease anytime,” she said.
The State has also dearth of specialist doctors to treat the patients. Until few months, SMHS had no trained Haematologist and the patients were treated by pathologists.
Recently, a Haematologist has been recruited by the SMHS for hundreds of patients. “There is no trained haematologist to diagnose patients in the haemophilia care unit, the diagnosis is done by a pathologist. Patients are asked to visit GMC Srinagar for diagnosis and to SKIMS for surgery and at both places there is no need adequate treatment available,” he said.
The patients said on average hemophilia kills three to four hemophilia patients in Kashmir every year, but neither Government nor civil society wakes up.
Lamenting over their “inhuman” treatment, the Hemophiliacs demand monthly pension and a category from the Government.
SMHS Medical Superintendent Dr Nazir Choudhary said he was busy in a meeting and did not comment on the issue. Commissioner Secretary Health and Medical Education Gazanfar Hussain did not respond to the phone calls.
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