‘Rs5 billion set aside for healthcare in Karachi’

As much as Rs5 billion has been allocated by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) for the provision of better healthcare and medical facilities to the city's people in its budget for the upcoming fiscal year, stated Karachi mayor Wasim Akhtar on Sunday.

Akhtar claimed that the KMC was trying to expand healthcare facilities across the metropolis as well as provide free medical treatment to the needy at the hospitals under its supervision, including the Karachi Institute of Heart Diseases, Karachi Institute of Kidney Diseases, Landhi Medical Complex and the Sobhraj Maternity Hospital, among others.

Asserting that these steps had become increasingly necessary due to the overcrowding of hospitals in Karachi during the pandemic, he added that the common people did not have access to private hospitals due to their high fees.

The mayor also maintained that the coronavirus facility at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, which is equipped with an intensive care unit and 18 ventilators, had already helped increase the people's confidence in the KMC. He further disclosed that a filter clinic has also been established at the Landhi Cardiac Emergency Centre, catering to the residents of Korangi and Landhi.

"Like the rest of the world, Karachiites are also facing unprecedented circumstances," said Akhtar, adding, "With business activities having come to a halt, many people have become jobless, leading to increased depression and anxiety."

He told the KMC medical and health services director, Dr Birbal Genani, to ensure that all KMC hospitals functioned around the clock, with the necessary equipment and medical staff available at all times.

"The provision of better healthcare facilities for Karachi's people is the KMC's priority, despite the shortage of resources," he said, requesting the National Disaster Management Authority to provide them more testing kits so that testing could be boosted.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 6^th, 2020.