‘SIUT is a model for developing countries’

Institute's work for people lauded at International Symposium

KARACHI: International delegates lauded the services of the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) and said it is a successful role model for other developing countries to follow.

"Be human and serve humanity," said social worker Abdul Sattar Edhi. He appealed to people to serve mankind without consideration for any personal gain.



Inaugurating the International Symposium at SIUT on Wednesday, he said that the philosophy adopted by SIUT has really served the people of Pakistan. Edhi said that at a time when people are disillusioned and directionless there is a need to restore faith in humanity. He appealed to philanthropists and the government to help SIUT and its founder Dr Adibul Hasan Rizvi help the people.

"SIUT has a pattern and structure that could be adapted to different settings, with different funding mechanisms," said Dr Luc Noel, a former official of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

"The SIUT is an example for developing countries," he said, adding that other countries should try to replicate it.

"Good work Dr Adib," congratulated Prof Mehmet Haberal, a leading surgeon in transplantation and the president of the Middle East Society for Organ Transplantation. "You have done a great job. The environment here [in Karachi] is different but you did it," he added.



Former WHO representative in Pakistan, Dr Khalif Bile, highlighted SIUT's role in struggling for the human organ transplant bill. "There are so many misconceptions about organ donation [in Muslim states]," he lamented.

He said that Pakistan's religious scholars also joined in to help those people who were struggling to pass the bill in the assemblies. "The bill was introduced in 1994 but was defeated by an opposing lobby," he said, adding that the National Assembly passed the bill in November 2009 and the Senate approved it in June 2010.

While appreciating the role of Dr Rizvi and Edhi, Dr Philip G Ransley, renowned consultant paediatric urologist from England, said, "It is a great honour for me to stand between the two persons who have given so much to Karachi and the people of Pakistan."

Dr Ransley said that Dr Rizvi is truly a unique person. He said that it was due to the SIUT team and commitment of its founder that 40 successful years were completed.

"We are peaceful people," said Dr Rizvi, adding that it was his team that made the dream into a reality with their endless effort.

He said that the first international conference was organised by SIUT in 1994. Explaining its philosophy, Dr Rizvi said that SIUT is an autonomous institution with transparency and accountability and is considering expansion, in response to their patients' needs.



"When everything else is shrinking, we are expanding," the SIUT director claimed, adding that it is all because the institute is owned by the people.

Dr Dominique Martin, a lecturer of health ethics at the University of Melbourne, also lauded the role of SIUT across the world. "Due to its emergence in a hostile environment, SIUT is an international model," she said. "I salute SIUT for its great success."

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11^th,  2015.