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As the number of patients, including children, are being brought to hospitals in Karachi and other parts of Sindh due to acute gastroenteritis, continues to rise, Pakistani health expert and senior gastroenterologist, Dr Sajjad Jamil slammed Karachi water and sewerage authorities for failing to provide clean drinking water to the people which are leading to water-borne diseases in the region.
Acute gastroenteritis is a water-borne disease that causes diarrhoea. The health experts urged the government for creating awareness among people regarding the prevention of food- and water-borne diseases to minimise preventable deaths reported by The News International. The health experts were speaking at the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Pak GI and Liver Disease Society (PGLDS) and a pharmaceutical firm for the launch of the PGLDS Research Awards, reported The News International. The Awards will be given to 10 top researchers for their papers in the field of gastroenterology during the coming annual conference of the society in June. "There is a serious outbreak of acute gastroenteritis in Karachi and other cities of Sindh and hundreds of patients, including children, are being brought to hospitals for treatment. Watery diarrhoea is a serious health issue which can take the life of a healthy person within hours if immediate medical treatment is not provided to the patient," said Professor Amanullah Abbasi, senior gastroenterologist associated with the PGLDS, while speaking at the MoU signing ceremony. The health experts also urged the government and pharmaceutical sector to provide funds for research in the area of gastrointestinal diseases, water-borne ailments and blood-borne infections such as viral hepatitis. Gastroenterologists advised the people to take precautionary measures like drinking clean water and avoiding eating uncooked food from roadside vendors. Moreover, Gastroenterologist Dr Lubna Kamani deplored the fact that due to inexperience and extremely busy hours, most of the young Pakistani health physicians were unaware of the art of medical writing. She stated that very little research was being conducted by our young researchers in the field of gastroenterology, reported the News International. (ANI)
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