47. Pakistan Economic Survey 2011-12 - Consultancy Services in ...

Health and Nutritionglobal initiative of WHO for elimination ofpreventable causes of blindness by the year2020. An allocation of Rs. 246.9 million wasmade for this program during 2011-12.Cancer TreatmentThe Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission(PAEC) is playing a vital role in the healthsector by using nuclear and other advancedtechniques, for diagnosis and treatment ofcancerous and allied diseases, as well as nationalcancer awareness and prevention programmes.Presently the PAEC is operating 14 moderncancer hospitals in the country while four othersare in the final stages of completion and areexpected to start functioning by June 2012.These hospitals are manned by skilled teams ofmore than 2,000 professionals; includingdoctors, engineers, scientists, paramedical,technical and other supportive staff. Thesehospitals bring facilities for early diagnosis andtreatment of cancer within the reach of a verylarge proportion of the population of thecountry. The major services provided at thesehospitals are diagnostic and therapeutic nuclearmedicine, hormonal assays, radiotherapy,chemotherapy, indoor/wards facilities, breastcare clinics, biochemistry, ultrasonography,color Doppler, diagnostic radiology,histopathology, hematology, molecular baseddiagnostics and cancer prevention and awarenessprogrammes. About 527,633 patients weretreated from July to March 2012. Workcontinues in the following areas:• Research continued on various InternationalAtomic Energy Agency (IAEA) TC/Regional Cooperative Agreement (RCA)projects and others in collaboration withdifferent international/ national organization.• The cancer awareness andprevention/control campaign was launchedespecially for early diagnosis of breastcancer and treatment leading to betterprognosis through arranging lectures,seminar, and workshops in remote areas, andthrough print and electronic media andmobile breast care clinics.• Provision of state of the art treatment(radiation therapy) facility at Atomic EnergyMedical Centre (AEMC), Karachi.In order to provide better treatment facilities tothe patients at their door steps, the PAECcontinued working on the following projects:4 Hospitals (3 in KPK and 1 in Sindhprovince) have almost been completed andout patient departments have startedworking. These hospitals are expected tostart functioning at full capacity by June2012.Addition of latest and advanced diagnosticand therapeutic facilities on par withinternational standards is also underway andPositron Emission Tomography- Computedtomography (PET/ CT) facility at the PAECCancer Hospital Institute of NuclearMedicine and Oncology (INMOL) in Lahorehas been added and patients throughoutPakistan are benefitting from these facilities.PAEC Cancer Registry Programme (PCRP),started in 2007, is now in completion phaseand is expected to be completed in August2012. Patients in remote areas also benefited withmobile breast care clinics being arranged onfortnightly and monthly basis for awareness,diagnosis and treatment of patients.Dengue Epidemic and Control ProgrammeIn Pakistan, the outbreak of DengueHemorrhagic Fever (DHF) was first reported inKarachi in 1994, followed by outbreaks in 2005,2008, and most recently in 2011. Heavymonsoon rains in Punjab provided idealconditions for dengue-bearing mosquitoes tothrive in stagnant water. Although the diseasespread in all provinces, Punjab was badlyaffected.21,292 confirmed cases of dengue were reportedin Punjab in 2011, 352 of these cases were fatal.No deaths have been reported so far in 2012. Inorder to prevent the dengue epidemic, thefollowing steps have been taken:157