Bethania Hospital, Sialkot

Bethania Hospital, Sialkot, Pakistan is a medical facility owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lahore.

The hospital treats 60,000 patients a year, 5,000 of which are TB patients. It has a staff of 130 and occupies an area of 300,000 sq. ft.^[1]

Sister Isobel Moran took over the hospital transforming it into a thriving facility with the addition of extra 50 beds, high standards of affordable care, the introduction of surgical procedures, and obstetric services and improved anaesthetic and intensive care services.^[2]

Direct Relief International has supported the facility from 2002 to 2005, most recently with a $1.3 million medical assistance shipment in September 2005.^[3]

Tuberculosis program

Since its establishment in 1964, the hospital has worked extensively to detect and treat TB patients in the region. It is a 215 bed frontline and referral hospital, providing medical and surgical services. There is a specialized TB unit with 100 beds.^[4]

Ilyas Gill was the manager of the tuberculosis program at Bethania Hospital in 2011.^[5]

Every year 350,000 people in Pakistan develop TB. Treatment defaulting is one of the major causes of the failure of TB control programs. A study was carried out in Bethania Hospital from May - July 2006. In the Hospital defaulting rates are as high as 72% for the standard 12 months course. The study revealed the urgent need for a health education campaign to convince the general population that tuberculosis is curable.^[6]

TB is a major cause of ill health in Pakistan. Research carried out in Bethania Hospital in 1996-97 was able to contribute to better understanding the problem of low treatment adherence among patients.^[7]

References