Ishtiyaq ahmad
Early Times Report
Srinagar, Jan 12: The hemophilia patients have been left at the mercy of God with government failing to keep drug available for them.
There are over 320 registered patients with the Day Care Centre at SMHS Hospital Srinagar.
However, authorities are putting their lives in danger as they are not making any efforts to procure drugs for them.
Hemophilia is a rare genetic disorder that keeps blood from clotting and leads to excessive internal or external bleeding.
The treatment is very expensive - a single dose of the clotting factor ranges from Rs 7,000 to Rs 27,000.
A majority of the patients, particularly children, require three doses of the clotting factors (factor-VI, VIII and IX) every week to prevent internal injuries and deformities in the bones.
An official said hemophilia patients were without anti-hemophilia drugs like factor IX, feiba, and wanvilibrand factor (VWF).
"Government Medical College Srinagar has failed to procure these drugs for the needy patients despite obtaining no-objection certificate (NOC) from Jammu and Kashmir Medical Supplies Corporation," he said.
He said due lack of anti-hemophilia drugs, the patients are given FFP which has developed multiple ailments, infections and deformities among the patients, putting their lives at risk.
He said that the Day Care Centre building had been converted into a store, leaving hardly any space for treatment of hemophilia patients.
One of the patients said he was rushed to SMHS Hospital last week. "After an hour long wait, the doctors told me that the supplies haven't been restocked and we should come after a week," he said.
He said, "The doctors posted at Hemophilia Day Care Centre of SMHS Hospital have no specialization to tackle the problems of hemophilia patients. They are violating the guidelines of World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) as patients are provided less dosage than the recommended norms," he said.
"The laboratory has been occupied, making hardly any space for the required machinery, which results in improper analysis as the machine shows error, thus creating problems for treating patients," he said.
He said the physiotherapy equipment at the centre had developed rust in boxes due to non-availability of space.
Meanwhile a senior official said drugs for hemophilia patients are being procured and will be available in few days. |
