President to nominate Dr Rizvi for Nobel prize

President said that he will nominate globally-renowned kidney specialist, Dr Adibul Hasan Rizvi for the Nobel Prize.

KARACHI: President Asif Ali Zardari said that he will nominate globally-renowned kidney specialist, Dr Adibul Hasan Rizvi for the Nobel Prize.

Speaking during a ceremony at Bilawal House on Thursday, which saw him officially register as an organ donor with the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT), the president said that it was an honour for Pakistan to have personalities such as Benazir Bhutto, Rizvi and Abdul Sattar Edhi.

Speaking after the ceremony, Rizvi thanked the president for the gesture but added that he felt that no one has done more for peace in Pakistan than Abdul Sattar Eidhi.

“It would be more apt if Abdul Sattar Edhi, who has rendered great services for the people of this country, were nominated,” he said.

Zardari became one of the first presidents in the world to agree to donate his organs after his death.

The president said that the government has been providing people the best health facilities. It has decided to establish banks across the country to accumulate donated body organs. People registering for their Nadra cards will also be given the option of signing an organ donation form.

There are now 1,400 people registered at SIUT who have agreed to donate their organs after they die. Since its inception in 1985, SIUT has carried out 3,330 kidney transplants and became the first institute in Pakistan to complete a liver transplant in 2003. Since then two more liver transplants have taken place at SIUT.

Addressing the ceremony, the president also stated that Pakistan has been fighting a war to save the world from the menace of terrorism and that, owing to the geopolitical situation of Pakistan, its importance has increased worldwide, Online news agency reported.

Zardari said unity was esstential to defeating militancy. He added that Pakistani security forces and politicians have been doing a great job serving the country.

He said Pakistan has been in a state of war and the incumbent government is committed to flushing out militants.

He stated that stable and prosperous provinces guarantee a stable and developed Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 23^rd, 2010.