MINGORA, May 15 (APP): Battling for life, Aqsa Bibi, a poor patient from Malakand was brought to Nawaz Sharif Kidney Hospital, Swat in a precarious condition during the Eid holidays after she suffered severe pain in her kidneys.
Unaware of being a victim of fatal kidney disease for the last one-year due to blockage of her ureters by renal stones, Aqsa Bibi alias Gulalai on stretcher with unbearable pain, was rushed towards CT scan and ultrasound labs where her free medical tests were conducted before surgery at Nephrology’s operation theater in the state-of-the-art Nawaz Sharif Kidney Hospital (NSKH) located at Manglawar, some five kilometers North-East of Mingora City on Kalam-Mingora Road in Swat district.
Raising hands to pray for the life of his daughter in front of the operation theater, Aqsa’s father Wasim Khan, who called her ‘Gulalai’ was dashed towards doctors to inquire after the outcome of his child’s surgery that took nearly two hours to remove the stones.
Tears of joy came out of the eyes of Wasim when doctors informed him that her operation has successfully been completed and the patient was on the way to recovery.
“Gulalai was complaining from time to time about lower back pain for the last one-year and he used to take her to local doctors and herbalists, who usually gave her pain killers and homeopathic medicines for pain management,” Wasim Khan told APP, adding “the painkillers subsided her pain for the time being and we get relaxed.”
“On Eid day, my lone daughter cried due to severe back pain, therefore, we rushed to a local nephrologist at Thana Malakand, who diagnosed her with stones in her kidney blocking her urine and referred her to NSKH for surgery,” he said.
“Aqsa Bibi was brought to NSKH’s in a critical condition where she was operated in emergency after detection of two stones i.e eight and 10 mm, which blocked her urinary tract and has been removed successfully,” said Dr. Subhanullah Khan, Deputy Medical Superintendent, NSKH, while talking to the news agency. “The stones have badly damaged the patient’s urinary bladder as well as kidneys and she was now put on dialysis for removal of toxic waste and excessive fluid from her blood,” he said.
Wasim Khan thanked former Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and the then Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif (now PM) for establishing the kidney hospital for people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, especially for Malakand division in a prime location in Swat.
Former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif had inaugurated this 150-beds four storey hospital spread on 27 kanals during his visit to Swat in 2016 following its completion in record four years by the then PML-N Punjab Government.
Having about 60 specialists medical and surgical doctors, radiologists, pathologists and nurses, the hospital was equipped with high powered latest diagnostic labs, MRI, ultrasound, X-Rays, Lithotripsy machines, operation theaters, OPD, male and female wards, urology, nephrology and pathology departments.
The NSKH is the country’s largest kidney hospital constructed by the Punjab Trust of Hospitals in two phases with an estimated cost of Rs 800 million under supervision of the then CM Punjab Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif (now PM) and ex-Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and its services could be compared with any other modern hospital of Pakistan.
“Many patients did not consider kidney stones as serious ailment and mostly used homeopathic and self-medication for its treatment, thus damaging their vital life-saving organ that often leads to kidney’s failure and ultimately death,” he said. He said Malakand’s mineral and salt rich heavy water and unhealthy foods are the main causes of developing kidney stones, adding such stones can affect patients of all ages, however senior citizens were most vulnerable to it.
Dr Subhan said poor diet, junk food, use of unhygienic and low water intake, self medication, excessive use of painkillers, diabetes and high blood pressure also contribute to different kidney diseases. At NSKH, he said most of patients were coming from merged tribal districts of Bajaur and Mohmand, Malakand division including Swat, Shangla, Buner, Kohistan, Batagram, Dir, Chitral besides Batagram, Hazara and Mardan.
Dr Subhan said an average 400 to 500 patients per day were being examined at OPD, which means that 15,000 patients per month and around 180,000 per year. The number of dialysis machines has been enhanced from 14 to 30 after an increase of patients in recent years.
“Prior to NSKH, the patients of eight districts of Malakand division were visiting Peshawar and Islamabad for kidneys treatment and dialysis by spending their hard-earned money on CT scans, MRIs, X-Rays, operations, hotel stay and transport fare etc.
As a result, Institute of Kidney Diseases (IKD) Hayatabad, Lady Reading Hospital and Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar were overloaded and patients of other districts have to wait for months for dialysis and surgeries,” said Dr Riaz Hussain, IKD’s Deputy Director. He said NSKH has immensely helped reduce patients’ load at IKD.
He said Pakistan has ranked eighth in the list of countries with a high rate of kidney diseases where around 17 million people were estimated to suffer from different kidney’s ailments including Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and AKI.
“The treatment of kidney failure is either dialysis or kidney transplant for patients survival,’ he said and underscored the need for aggressive screening, use of clean drinking water and healthy food, controlling diabetics and blood pressure besides construction of kidney hospitals at divisional headquarters of KP.
“Except kidney transplantation, NSKH’s is equipped with all medical, diagnostic and surgical services for the patients around the clock,” said Dr Mumtaz Khan, Medical Superintendent, NSKH while talking to APP.
Besides free dialysis’, nephrology and urology’s operations, he said all latest treatment procedures including Percutaneous Lithotripsy (PCNL) was being used to remove large kidney’s stones.
