Free, quality healthcare cornerstone of PPP manifesto: Aseefa

Advancements in healthcare in Sindh, where PPP is in government, bear testament to this commitment, she said

KARACHI:

Providing free and quality public healthcare has been a cornerstone of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) manifesto, said Aseefa Bhutto Zardari in a statement issued on Tuesday.

She pointed out that under the PPP-led Sindh government, the National Institute of Cardiovascular Disease (NICVD) has been strengthened into one of the strongest cardiac networks spread across 22 districts of Sindh with 10 hospitals and 24 chest pain units.

The advancements in healthcare in Sindh, where PPP is in government, bear testament to this commitment and its success has been unparalleled, she said.

Be it cardiac care, liver and kidney transplants, or bringing down infant mortality through pre and neo natal care, PPP remains at the forefront of providing free quality healthcare for all, Assefa said.

The statement added that along with the 10 hospitals across Sindh in Karachi, Tando Muhammad Khan, Hyderabad, Sehwan, Larkana, Sukkur, Nawabshah, Mithi, and Khairpur, the Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari laid the foundation stone of another hospital in Landhi, Karachi. The Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Cardiovascular Disease is set to be the world’s largest cardiac hospital with a 1,200-bed facility.

Aseefa said that treatments that cost thousands of dollars abroad have been made free and accessible due to the hard work of PPP and under the leadership of Bilawal Bhutto.

She reminded that in the past five years, approximately over 100,000 primary angioplasties and over 25,000 cardiac surgeries have been conducted in NICVDs across Sindh. Taking exception to the criticism of distractors, Aseefa said, despite the malicious allegations being circulated against the PPP and its leadership, the reality of the situation is that the PPP is the only party to have established such revolutionary treatment centers in Pakistan.

Whether it is Gambat Institute of Medical Science in Khairpur, providing free liver, kidney, bone marrow and cancer treatment, or the Child Life Hospitals across Sindh, or JPMC CyberKnife robotic radio-surgery targeting cancer ranging from; brain, head, neck and spine, that could cost $60,000-$90,000 abroad is available for free in Karachi.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 22^nd, 2023.