PHC directs hospitals to reimburse treatment charges to dengue patients

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday directed the hospital directors of the three major hospitals of the province, including Lady Reading Hospital, Khyber Teaching Hospital and Hayatabad Medical Complex to reimburse the treatment charges to the dengue patients who were charged for the tests and medicines.

A division bench comprising Justice Qalandar Ali Khan and Justice Nasir Mehfooz issued the directives after medical directors of the three hospitals apologised and agreed to reimbursement if charged during the dengue outbreak.

The bench also asked Director General (DG) Health, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to submit a comprehensive report about the dengue patients and measures taken by the provincial government and MTI hospitals of the province on August 30, the next date of hearing.

The court directed the director general Heath to start counseling the dengue patients and for the purpose appoint clinical psychologists and send mobile teams to allay fears of the public about dengue as people from the infected areas of the city had restricted movements to the houses.

The court also directed the Health Department to make public the information about dengue patients and government steps in this regard to the media and public so that the people get the knowledge.

DG Health Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dr Shabeena Raza, Hospital Director of Khyber Teaching Hospital, Dr Shahzad Akbar, Hospital Director of Hayatabad Medical Complex Dr Naik Dad Khan and Dr Yaseen from Lady Reading Hospital appeared in the case.

About the dengue cases in the province, the DG Health said that so far 2994 people had been infected by the dengue virus across the province. She said the mortality rate from dengue fever was 0.3 percent as 10 people had died of the fever in the province.

The official informed the court that the provincial government was providing free treatment to the patients and had established dengue cells at district level in the province. She said deputy commissioners were in-charge of the cells.

The DG Health submitted that Lady Health Workers were going house-to-house in the infected areas and sensitizing the people about the disease and prevention measures from the dengue. However, she said that the news channels had created panic in the society.

The hospital directors of the three major hospitals of the province informed the court that they were accommodating the dengue patients and free-of-cost treatment was being given to them.

Dr Shahzad Akbar, KTH hospital director, informed the court that his hospital was the first one to receive the first dengue patient and up till now the hospital had conducted screening tests of 10262 people.

He said that 1811 patients had been tested positive, out of which 734 had been admitted. He added that 500 patients had been discharged after receiving treatment and tested negative. He said that the hospital spent Rs6 million on the dengue kits as one kit rate was Rs725.

The official said they were admitting the patients on routine basis and also discharging them after getting proper treatment.  Former MPA, Atifur Rehman, Dr Hussain Ahmad Haroon provincial president of Pakistan Medical Association and others also appeared in the case and showed displeasure at the measures of the provincial government for the dengue outbreak.

During hearing, Saifullah Mohib Kakakhel also submitted some receipts and documents in the court on behalf of the dengue patients who were charged by the hospitals for the treatment. He also submitted the Health department notification issued on August 26, the secretary Health visited Lady Reading Hospital and expressed his displeasure over non-compliance with the government directives about establishment of “One Window Operation” for dengue patients and also free OPD chits and tests.

The notification said the secretary health had observed that only dengue NSI/IGM/IGG tests were free but patients were charged for FBC tests along with standard charges of OPD tickets.

Muhammad Isa Khan, senior Supreme Court lawyer, who was also made a party to the case, informed the bench that majority people of Tehkal area in Peshawar were facing mental problem about the disease and they were not coming out from their houses for fear of dengue disease.

He requested the court to direct the Health Department to depute and appoint mobile teams of known psychiatrists for the area to sensitize the people about the disease and allay their fears about the dengue virus. The court adjourned the case till August 30.