Health Services: RIC requests govt to increase budget

RAWALPINDI: Free heart surgery facility is being provided to poor patients besides giving them free medicines at the Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology (RIC). Chief Executive Officer Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology  (RIC) Dr Azhar Mehmood Kiani, talking to APP, said the treatment otherwise costs up to 300,000. “We have requested the Punjab government to increase the budget from Rs 1,500 million to Rs 1,800 million to upgrade a number of departments and services,” he added. Major General (R) Kiani said it is the only hospital in the twin cities where patients from Rawalpindi division, K-P, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan are benefiting from facilities. Dr Kiani further said the ratio of death from cardiac arrests could be minimized through preventive measures. “Some 80,000 deaths from heart diseases could be avoided every year in the country,” he added.

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