KARACHI: Open heart surgeries have been halted in the Karachi Institute of Heart Diseases (KIHD) because the institute faces a shortage of funds.
The KIHD, run by the City District Government Karachi (CDGK), is the second largest cardiac hospital in the city, with 500 patients visiting daily.
But with no money, the institute has been forced to close its open heart surgery facility.
According to officials, it has been six months since the facility was stopped.
This affects a lot of people as the hospital provided cardiac surgical procedures at heavily subsidised rates, especially to those people in the low-income bracket. Even the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) is heavily overburdened and its surgical patients have to wait for weeks, and sometimes even months, for their turn.
While the KIHD operation theatres have been virtually closed for six months, the laboratory of the hospital has also been handed over to a private party for the last one year, which means the patients have to pay heavily for pathological tests.
According to patients, KIHD has limited the number of angiography and angioplasty operations and patients have to wait for many weeks for procedures.
They complain that they are being compelled to purchase costly medicines from private medical stores instead of the hospital’s pharmacy.
Former city nazim Mustafa Kamal had purchased sophisticated equipment costing millions for the hospital. However, some of the machines are now out of order, revealed a senior KIHD doctor, requesting anonymity. The hospital management has given contracts to private companies to repair them despite the fact that these machines are still under warranty, he added.
Some of the ECG machines and blood pressure monitors are also out of order.
It was also reported that some doctors in the KIHD urge their patients to visit their private consultation clinics instead.
Last year, the hospital conducted four open heart surgeries per week, but this year, no open heart surgery was conducted, said officials. Similarly, the number of angioplasty and angiography operations has been drastically reduced in comparison to last year.
The executive director of the hospital, Dr Abdul Samad is on leave, while acting director Dr Zahid Rasheed refused to comment on the matter.
Published in the Express Tribune, June 18th, 2010.
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