Pakistani children continue to suffer with same common diseases that have been continuously focused by the government agencies over the years costing the national exchequer billions of rupees.
The country's leading paediatricians, Professor Zeenat Issani, Professor D S Akram and Professor Kaleemuddin Aziz expressed these views at a discussion on "Paediatric Update" organised by Medilink International, a medical publication, at PMA House here on Thursday.
The burden of diseases cannot be lessened through initiatives in the health sector alone, but it would reduce only if the masses were educated to an optimal level; provided means to increase their incomes and adequate health initiatives were launched throughout the country.
Professor D S. Akram of National Institute of Child Health (NICH) pointed out that a simple intervention involving provision of toilets in homes was known to have brought about a reduction in the burden of diarrhoea.
Similarly, consuming iodised salt helps reducing iodine deficiency. The fact that iodised salt is being used by only 14 percent of the population was another matter that needed to be addressed.
He praised the government's initiative under which vitamin A tablets were distributed among the masses.
The professor was of the view that the infants should be exclusively breast-fed for the first six months of their lives. "After six months, the baby should be given solid food," he said.
Professor Akram was of the opinion that in an effort to reduce the burden of diseases in the country, the mothers should be educated. They should be given better housing having proper toilets and also provided opportunities to supplement their income, he added.
Professor Kaleemuddin Aziz spoke on the need for cardiac surgery on children for which no facility was available in Pakistan the moment.
He said 53,339 infants suffer from heart problems every year, which has resulted in a growing cumulative burden of the disease.
The professor said cardiac interventions should not be undertaken on children in the absence of specialised paramedics and nurses.
He was of the opinion that surgical procedures on children in an adult set-up could not be too useful.
Professor Zeenat Issani said that we had not yet been able to get rid of enteric fever, which was largely preventable, provided hygienic conditions were maintained.
In her rather pessimistic presentation, she said 665 Pakistani children under five-year, out of 100,000 die due to complications arising out of typhoid.
She added that the list of typhoid complications was a long one. The drug resistance, according to a study, was declining and it was now possible for doctors to prescribe first and second-generation drugs.
A large number of physicians, postgraduates and others attended the discussion.