Over Rs355m released to make RIUT functional

Tenders will be issued on June 6 to purchase state-of-the-art equipment

RAWALPINDI:

The Punjab government has released over Rs355 million grant to make the Institute of Urology and Transplantation Rawalpindi (RIUT) — a dedicated health facility meant to provide quality treatment to patients suffering from acute kidney diseases.

A formal approval in this fire was formally accorded to purchase all types of machinery, equipment, oxygen kits, ventilators, furniture and beds.

Tenders will be issued on June 6 to purchase state-of-the-art machinery for the RIUT. All the latest machinery and equipment will be acquired by June 30. The 400-bed hospital will also have an ultra-modern dialysis centre. This new dialysis centre will be equipped with modern machinery for 200 dialysis per day free of cost.

The RIUT has five floors and so far three floors have been constructed. This project was supposed to be completed and operational in May 2017. The RIUT will be made operational after a delay of five years.

Sources said that the construction has been completed and beds have been installed. Doctors, nurses and paramedics staff have been appointed.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister Hanif Abbasi told The Express Tribune that “we had completed it on a war footing basis and machinery will also be purchased at the earliest. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz will inaugurate the RIUT, he said adding that the treatment of liver diseases and liver transplantation will be carried out free of cost. “We are also purchasing ultra-modern machinery from European countries. Most senior doctors of the country will be appointed at the RIUT. Teams of foreign doctors will also visit the centre for liver transplantations,” he said.

The RIUT, which could not be made functional since the foundation of the institute was laid in 2012 by Shehbaz Sharif as the Punjab chief minister, was converted into a dedicated medical facility two years back for treating Covid-19 patients after the outbreak of the infectious disease.

The RIUT administration is now focused on going full-steam ahead with its plans to make the institute functional by opening the hospital's emergency, outpatient’s department and dialysis centres initially. The requisite equipment for the treatment and transplant facility has already been purchased.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 14^th, 2022.