‘Just 13 facilities treating child cancer patients in all of Pakistan’

Karachi

Every year, over 8,000 children suffer from various types of cancers in Pakistan but hardly 3,500 to 4,000 of them are properly diagnosed and treated by qualified and trained paediatric oncologists, as there are only 13 centres treating child cancer patients in just four cities of Pakistan.

There are no paediatric oncology centres or units in entire Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and all the children suffering from one or other types of cancers are taken either to Punjab, Islamabad or Karachi for treatment, experts at a conference revealed on Thursday. The also demanded the government to come forward and establish more paediatric oncology centres and units in various cities of the country.

These experts were speaking at the inaugural session of the first Paediatric Oncology Conference, organised by Pakistan Society of Paediatric Oncologists (PSPO), which was attended by senior paediatricians and children cancer specialists from United States, UK, Canada and various cities of Pakistan.

Speaking at the inaugural session, renowned paediatric oncologist Dr Shahina Qureshi from US stated there was a large patient load in Pakistan but facilities and trained oncologists were very limited, causing immense hardships and problems for parents of children suffering from cancers and lymphomas in the country.

She said in the early 1980s, there were hardly any qualified or trained paediatric oncologists but later doctors specialised in paediatric oncology and now there were many paediatric oncology units and experts in the country but added that there was still a need to increase the specialised facilities to deal with the rising cancer patients.

Dr Qureshi said Pakistani doctors should collaborate with their international colleagues and try to learn from their experiences while culture of research and development should also be promoted locally so that Pakistan-specific cases could be dealt more effectively.

Another known children cancer specialist and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Indus Children Cancer Hospital (ICCH) Dr Shamvil Ashraf deplored that 80 percent cancers among children were completely treatable in the developing countries — however the situation in Pakistan was bleak as hardly 35 to 40 percent children with cancers were being cured due to limited treatment facilities among other issues.  

He claimed that early and correct diagnosis is the key to treating children suffering from cancer but lamented that majority of physicians were not trained enough to identify the cancers among children. Also the parents lacked awareness and were used to of taking their children to trained oncologists when the disease entered into its advanced stages.

Dr Ashraf claimed that Indus Children Cancer Hospital and PSPO was conducting training workshops for training of paediatricians and nurses to educate them in the field of paediatric oncology and so they not only had trained nurses from many cities of Pakistan but also from various countries of the developing world including Africa and South Asia.

He grieved that there was no paediatric oncology unit in entire Balochistan and KPK while there was also no centre for treating children cancer anywhere in Sindh except Karachi.

“Children from Balochistan, KPK, and even from Afghanistan come to Karachi for the treatment of cancers. This treatment is costly and time-consuming, and in this regard, government should come forward and support private sector in establishing more treatment facilities”, he added.

Renowned Paediatrician Dr Abdul Ghaffar Billoo said that every segment of the society should raise voice for having more cancer treatment centres for children in Pakistan, especially in Balochistan and KPK as it was the right of every child fighting cancer, that he or she is given proper treatment.

He commended the PSPO and paediatric oncologists and advised them to continue training more paediatricians and nurses in dealing with children cancers, saying it was the only option left for people in Pakistan where dedicated doctors and paramedics were providing necessary treatment facilities to ailing humanity.

Another renowned paediatrician Prof Dr Manzoor Zaidi deplored that authorities in Pakistan were not interested in problems of children with cancers as many months are taken to approve the mere painkillers like morphine for cancer patients, which is an essential drug for them.

He appreciated the paediatric oncologists like Dr Shamvil and Dr Shahina and added that despite poor infrastructure and lack of resources, these people were doing a great service to humanity.

The conference was also addressed by renowned paediatrician and former Director of National Institute of Child Health (NICH), Prof Nizam while known hematologists and surgeons including Dr Tahir Sultan Shamsi among several others also attended the conference.

The conference would continue till Friday while post-conference workshops and training sessions would go on till Saturday at various hospitals in Karachi, where experts would deliver lectures and presentations on treatment of various types of cancers among children.