KHUJAND, January 22, 2009, Asia-Plus — Because of severe electricity shortages in the Sughd province, local cardiology center has stopped performing heart surgeries, while dozens of patients need such operations.
Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Azimjon Sodiqov, head of the cardiac surgery department within the Sughd cardiology center, said that no heart operations have been performed this month so far. “It is cold in the operational unit while temperature in the operational unit should be not lower than +27C°. Patient may contract pneumonia,” said Sodiqov, “We have a small gasoline-run generator but its capacity is not enough to provide proper light.”
He further added that it could not be ruled out that operations would be performed but only in case of emergency. Other patients will be sent to Dushanbe, Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan, Sodiqov said.
According to him, they have repeatedly applied to the Sughd health directorate, asking to provide them two 50kW diesel generators, “but there have been no results so far.”
