Only 1,250 anesthetists available in Pakistan

There are only around 1,250 anesthetists in Pakistan as against its requirement of 20,000 and as such the existing huge gap was being filled by unqualified anesthetists.

This scintillating disclosure was made by prominent anesthetist Dr Mirza Ali Azhar during the course of an exclusive interview with Medical News.

Elaborating on the subject of anaesthesia and its importance, Dr Ali Azhar, who is also secretary general of Pakistan Medical Association (PMA-Centre), said that of the total 1,250 anaesthetists available in the country, a brute majority of them are concentrated in major cities such as Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi/Islamabad, etc.

Admitting that there is a dearth of anaesthetists across the country, he said that the number of anaesthetists being produced in the country is much less than actual requirement.

“On the one hand, there is an acute shortage of anaesthetists in the country and, one the other hand, a number of qualified and trained anaesthetists had gone abroad for a variety of reasons, including security concerns, financial aspects or for a better quality of life.

Asked if all hospitals of Karachi (both public and private) are equipped with anaesthesia machines and monitors, he said that though about 80 per cent of the city’s hospitals are equipped with anaesthesia machines and monitors, some of them did not have Intensive Care Units (ICU) or proper recovery rooms. About the hospitals which are not equipped with anaesthesia machines and monitors, he said in such hospitals, anaesthetists carry their portable anaesthesia machines which, he added, are not up to the mark.

Source: Medical News Pakistan