Punjab grants organ transplant licences
The YDA Punjab has called a General Council meeting to discuss the abolition of house officer seats in various hospitals, the new service structure for doctors and the Punjab Healthcare Commission. PHOTO: FILE
The Punjab government has issued organ transplantation licences to three hospitals, allowing them to continue providing specialised transplant services under the Punjab Human Organ Transplantation Authority (PHOTA).
According to the Punjab Health Department, the Multan Institute of Kidney Diseases and Saleem Memorial Hospital, Lahore, have been granted three-year registration certificates for renal (kidney) transplantation.
The Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute and Research Centre (PKLI), Lahore, has received a three-year registration certificate for pancreas transplantation.
PKLI was also issued separate six-month registration certificates for liver and kidney transplantation.
The licences were granted following inspections conducted by PHOTA and recommendations made by its Executive Committee.
Provincial Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique said the Punjab government was strengthening PHOTA in line with Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif's vision of improving healthcare services across the province.
He said the government was taking major steps to expand organ transplantation services, adding that PHOTA had played a key role in saving thousands of lives by ensuring regulated and safe transplant facilities.
The minister said free medical treatment worth billions of rupees had been provided to patients through various public health programmes.
PHOTA Director General Professor Aamir Zaman Khan said the authority was being modernised in line with the provincial government's vision and reaffirmed that strict action would continue against those involved in the illegal transplantation of human organs in Punjab.