QUETTA: The Balochistan government on Monday enforced a health emergency across all the hospitals in the province as the Congo outbreak affected forty-four people in Quetta only, claiming the life of the Agha Khan University graduate Dr. Shukrullah and jeopardizing the life of many others.
Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) was reported on 3 November in the ICU of the Provincial Sandeman Hospital and infected 112 people, including duty doctors, paramedics, and attendants.
Soon after the lab reports diagnosed the deadly virus among several people in Quetta, the health department and the caretaker government started taking preventive measures on a war footing, transporting the serious patients to Karachi via Air Ambulances and patients with mild symptoms through the road.
In support of the provincial administration, the federal government has sent two health practitioners from the National Institute of Health Sciences (NIHS) to assist the health department in containing the spread of the virus.
Caretaker Chief Minister Balochistan, Ali Mardan Domki, said that the Sindh government is on board with the alarming situation of the virus outbreak. Management of Agha Khan Hospital and other main hospitals in Karachi have also been taken in the loop to ensure the best medical care to the patients being shifted to Karachi.
High-level Meeting to Address Aftermath of Congo Virus
He was addressing a high-level meeting to review the steps taken in the aftermath of the deadly virus.
Health Minister Ameer Mohammad Jogezai, Chief Secretary Balochistan Shakeel Qadir Khan, Secretary Health Abdullah Khan, DG Health Services Noor Qazi, Secretary Livestock Tayyab Lehri, and Additional Secretary Finance Shujaat Hussain Khosa were prominent among others who attended the meeting.
The CM directed the finance department to release the required funds immediately for the RBCs and granted an extension of the services of the public health laboratories.
He said that no stone be left unturned while providing health care facilities to the patients. The Sindh government had been informed about the virus, and the hospitals were also on board to ensure that affected people receive the best medical care in the hospital at the government’s expense.
