LAHORE: Public health experts and specialist doctors have been asked to prepare guidelines and standard operating procedure (SOP) for general practitioners and other clinicians, enabling them to effectively treat the patients suffering from chickenpox, measles, diphtheriaandothersuchdiseases.

Presiding over a meeting held here on Monday to review thechickenpox situation in the province, Minister for Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Khwaja Salman Rafique urged all the stakeholders should work with a proactive approach and prepare calendar, flowchart and SOPs on the clinical side for the information and guidance of the general practitioners for the treatment of the abovementioned diseases.

Earlier, King Edward Medical University`s former vice chancellor Prof Faisal Masood urged that chief executive officers (CEOs) of district health authorities to set up a group of 50 prominent general practitioners so that data of patients and disease load might be collected from the private sector aswell. He was of the view that research on diseases and preparation of guidelines for clinicians were the responsibilities of medical universities. He suggested that a working group of public health experts and senior clinicians should also be set up.

Punjab Medical University Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Fareed Zafar informed the meeting that training of clinicians of other hospitals had been completed in the Allied Hospital according to the SOPs of the patient management.

The meeting was informed that 144 chickenpox patients had been reported so far in Sahiwal and all had recovered while no patient was under treatment in any hospital at present. Similarly, 12 patients werereported in the Nishtar Hospital Multan and all had left for their homes after recovery. However, seven chickenpox patients were still admitted to the Allied Hospital Faisalabad.

A high dependency unit at the Children`s Hospital Multan had been established but no patient had so far been reported there. The vaccine and medicines were available in the hospitals in sufficient quantity and free treatment was being provided there.

Specialized Healthcare and Medical education Department Special Secretary Dr Sajid Chohan directed the officials concerned to send all the data of indoor and outdoor patients to the department.