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Govt paying no attention to Psoriasis

Dunya News

There is no budgetary allocation diseases like psoriasis in budget 2012-13.

More than 5 percent total population of the country is suffering from this disease and this percentage is increasing gradually each passing year.This was the crux of the event titled ‘Dermato-Expert League organised by Novartis Pharma (Pakistan) Limited. ‘Psoriasis-its Deep Skin’ was the basic theme of the event.The event was especially designed to create awareness about the World Psoriasis Day that will be celebrated on October 29.Psoriasis is a life-long skin disorder that causes red, scaly patches called lesions to appear on your skin.The lesions can show up on any area of the skin. Psoriasis affects nearly three percent of the worlds population. It can develop in males or females of any race or age.Dr Brig. Zafar Iqbal Sheikh while addressing the audience said that Psoriasis can be limited to a few areas of the skin (mild), or it can be moderate or widespread and severe.“There is lack of awareness among the common people about Psoriasis. In most cases the patient suffering from the disease is ignorant of the fact that he would have to continue his treatment for the life time.This disease is non-communicable but due to lack of knowledge, the people avoid being social with the psoriasis patient”, Dr Zafar said.Prof. Manzoor Memon said that in Pakistan more than 5 percent of the total population while in most of the other countries of the world, 1.5-2 percent people are facing this disease.“Federal and the provincial health departments have not made any budgetary allocations so far to formulate any policy or develop any mechanism to at least help out the patients financially as the psoriasis treatment is expensive like the other major diseases such as cancer or hepatitis”, Prof. Manzoor revealed.Prof. Sahibzada Mahmood Noor said “Keeping the skin from drying out, getting regular sunlight and bathing daily can help reduce or prevent flare ups while treatment for psoriasis involves topical medication that is applied to the skin directly for mild irritation and flare-ups, pills and shots for more severe outbreaks, and phototherapy (light therapy using artificial sunlight).According to Prof. Umair Mansoor, “At present, no official data is available about the total number of psoriasis patients in Pakistan which shoes the government’s negligence towards the disease that has so far affected about 125 million people globally”.Psoriasis affects males and females equally and accounts for 10-20 percent of all referrals to dermatologists while about 10 percent of all infants and young children experience symptoms of the disease, Prof. Umair said.Prof Azher Rashid said, “Psoriasis exerts deep psychological affects upon its patients. It is right to say that the overall quality of life of psoriasis patients is even worst affected during the treatment.According to an estimate, nearly 14-15 percent of the psoriasis patients across the world have idea of suicide while 9 percent have actually committed suicide.“International federation of psoriasis Association is campaigning to WHO to include this disease in its strategy for prevention of non-communicable diseases”, Dr Azher added.Dr Ahson Siddiqi told the audience that it was the first time in history of Pakistan that Pakistan Association of Dermatology in collaboration of Novartis has decided celebrate World Psoriasis day to formulate some guidelines about psoriasis on National level to create awareness among the people.