150 Kids Die Daily Due to Birth Defects in Pakistan

News Desk 

Islamabad: Approximately 150 children die due to various birth defects on a daily basis in Pakistan as revealed by Dr Muhammad Arshad, a distinguished pediatric surgeon and president of the Association of Pediatric Surgeons of Pakistan, during a recent discussion with journalists.

Dr Arshad explained that around 7,000 children die daily in Pakistan due to various illnesses, with about 150 of them succumbing to birth defects. He emphasized that surgeries can often correct these defects right after birth, but there are fewer than 200 pediatric surgeons in Pakistan.

He pointed out that Pakistan has a high proportion of children, about 33 percent, yet the number of pediatric surgeons is insufficient to meet their needs.

In comparison, only 19 percent of America’s population consists of children up to 15 years old, but they have hundreds of pediatric surgeons available for both routine and complex surgeries.

Dr Arshad highlighted the critical need for pediatric surgeons, emphasizing that birth defects rank as the fifth leading cause of death among children in addition to other ailments like accidents, kidney stones, and cancer.

He underscored that the shortage of pediatric surgeons results in approximately 26,000 to 27,000 child fatalities annually in Pakistan. Dr Arshad attributed the scarcity of pediatric surgeons to limited job opportunities in both private and public sectors, leading many Pakistani pediatricians to seek employment abroad, exacerbating the child mortality rate in Pakistan.

In addressing this issue, Dr Arshad proposed the establishment of pediatric surgery positions in all district hospitals across Pakistan.

This measure, he argued, would enable timely access to complex surgical interventions, ultimately saving the lives of countless children.

The president of the Association of Pediatric Surgeons of Pakistan said that only in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad there are special children’s hospitals which are under pressure from patients coming from all over Pakistan and hundreds of treatable pediatric diseases are complicated due to late diagnosis.

Children succumb to these conditions due to lack of timely intervention.

He emphasized that the appointment of pediatric surgeons in district hospitals could significantly lower the mortality rate among children by facilitating early diagnosis and swift treatment.

Other healthcare professionals present at the event concurred, emphasizing the importance of local measures to prevent Pakistani health experts from seeking opportunities abroad and mitigate the growing scarcity of healthcare professionals in the country.

The news was published on Dawn Urdu website, and it is reproduced in English by Thepenpk.com.