PESHAWAR: The Paraplegic Centre Peshawar (PCP), the only public sector institution that provides free of charge services to patients with spinal cord injuries from all over the country and Afghanistan, is planning to enhance its beds from 78 to 150.
The decision has been made as approximately 7,000 people suffer from spinal cord injuries in Pakistan every year.
“There is a dire need to have more such centres on emergency basis, either at central or provincial levels in other provinces. We will assist them by providing free expertise,” Paraplegic Centre Peshawar (PCP) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Syed Muhammad Ilyas told reporters on Sunday.
“The federal or provincial governments in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan must support our centre, if they do not have any plan to set up similar paraplegic centres,” he stressed.
He said though the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was funding the PCP, the act under which the centre was working allowed it to accept donations from philanthropists and non-governmental organisations.
The CEO said that approximately 7,000 people suffered from spinal cord injuries in Pakistan every year and there was no other facility in public sector except this one that served patients with spinal cord injuries.
“Policymakers must give proper attention to this noble cause, as spinal cord patients are generally given no attention, after losing mobility, bladder control and get sexually paralyzed,” Syed Muhammad Ilyas said, adding that care for one such patient was compared to caring for a hundred other patients. In the same breath, he said the situation could become worse if they were the sole breadwinners of the family, as 90 percent of the patients fall below the poverty line.
“We are presently working with the 78-bedded centre. From 400-to-500 patients are admitted annually and some 200 patients are at the waiting list for admission. Within limited resources, the PCP is working efficiently,” he maintained.
He said that with a growing number of spinal cord patients, they were planning to expand the centre to 150 beds in future.
Established in 1979 after the Russian invasion of Afghanistan when there was no such facility across South Asia to deal with cases of spinal cord injuries, the Paraplegic Centre Peshawar that was initially funded by the ICRC is now working as an autonomous body under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department
To date, the centre has treated more than 12,000 spinal cord patients in accordance with international standards and techniques.
“Our centre provides medical/surgical and nursing care along with physical, occupational, vocational and psychosocial rehabilitation services to spinal cord patients from all over the country as well as Afghanistan,” he added.
“In addition, we also provide them with free psychological counselling, orthotic devices, wheelchairs, walkers and even arrange for them recreational activities like sports,” he added.