Liver transplant : Shifa celebrates 100-plus surgeries
A patient from Sindh says hospital denied him admission after he failed to arrange money
ISLAMABAD:
As Shifa International Hospital (SIH) celebrated 100-plus successful living-donor liver transplants at the hospital, 28-year-old Ghulam Hussain Khoso from Sindh awaits, hoping to find a way to finance the procedure.
“A month ago, I went to the hospital along with a donor to get my surgery done, but they told me I would have to deposit Rs5 million first, which I cannot afford,” claimed Khoso, who has been suffering from a liver disease for the last five years.
At present, he is on medication and struggling to pull together the money he desperately needs.
“My life savings are just Rs200,000,” said Khoso, a teacher at Government Ustad Bukhari Boys College, Dadu. His father is the principal of another government school. According to him, they both must cover the expenses of eight family members on a monthly income of Rs50,000.
“I am in a fix...whether to give my monthly salary to my family or to save it for my surgery,” he said.
He lamented that there were not enough government facilities where the poor could get treatment for the liver disease.
Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), the largest referral hospital in public sector had introduced living donor liver transplant, but due to shortage of surgeons and equipment, the transplant centre could not be made operational.
While sharing the experiences and success with media on Saturday, SIH Chief Executive Dr Manzoor Qazi claimed that they have successfully performed over 120 liver transplant surgeries since April 2012.
He said that millions of Pakistanis were suffering from liver diseases.
“One hospital alone is not enough to take care of millions of people. We need more hospitals across the country with facilities for liver transplants, trained doctors, nurses, technicians and labs”, he said.
“Although a few public hospitals have liver transplant facilities and people have no option but to go there, many stop taking their medication to save up for the high cost of treatment at private hospitals,” said Dr Faisal Dar, a liver transplant surgeon at the hospital.
A liver transplant surgery normally costs Rs5 million, but the costs of many surgeries performed at SIH were borne by the Punjab government and other donors, he said.
“In Pakistan, an estimated 2.5 million patients need urgent liver transplant surgeries, but many of them cannot afford it,” he said, urging the government to subsidise such surgeries to extend help to deserving patients.
Mohammad Romanuddin, 7, is one such patient who underwent the liver transplant surgery at the SIH. He is the child of a Malaysia-based couple.
“The high cost put us in a fix,” said Romanuddin’s mother Sumiya Atif. The boy’s parents approached Bahria Town management, which arranged the money within a few days.
According to World Health Organisation estimates, three to four million people were infected with hepatitis-C virus each year and two-thirds of them develop chronic liver disease, which is responsible for up to 70 per cent of liver cancers, while liver cirrhosis is the 18th most-common cause of death.
An estimated 11 million Pakistanis suffer from liver diseases and the country is referred to as “cirrhotic state” in international health circles.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 24th, 2014.
As Shifa International Hospital (SIH) celebrated 100-plus successful living-donor liver transplants at the hospital, 28-year-old Ghulam Hussain Khoso from Sindh awaits, hoping to find a way to finance the procedure.
“A month ago, I went to the hospital along with a donor to get my surgery done, but they told me I would have to deposit Rs5 million first, which I cannot afford,” claimed Khoso, who has been suffering from a liver disease for the last five years.
At present, he is on medication and struggling to pull together the money he desperately needs.
“My life savings are just Rs200,000,” said Khoso, a teacher at Government Ustad Bukhari Boys College, Dadu. His father is the principal of another government school. According to him, they both must cover the expenses of eight family members on a monthly income of Rs50,000.
“I am in a fix...whether to give my monthly salary to my family or to save it for my surgery,” he said.
He lamented that there were not enough government facilities where the poor could get treatment for the liver disease.
Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), the largest referral hospital in public sector had introduced living donor liver transplant, but due to shortage of surgeons and equipment, the transplant centre could not be made operational.
While sharing the experiences and success with media on Saturday, SIH Chief Executive Dr Manzoor Qazi claimed that they have successfully performed over 120 liver transplant surgeries since April 2012.
He said that millions of Pakistanis were suffering from liver diseases.
“One hospital alone is not enough to take care of millions of people. We need more hospitals across the country with facilities for liver transplants, trained doctors, nurses, technicians and labs”, he said.
“Although a few public hospitals have liver transplant facilities and people have no option but to go there, many stop taking their medication to save up for the high cost of treatment at private hospitals,” said Dr Faisal Dar, a liver transplant surgeon at the hospital.
A liver transplant surgery normally costs Rs5 million, but the costs of many surgeries performed at SIH were borne by the Punjab government and other donors, he said.
“In Pakistan, an estimated 2.5 million patients need urgent liver transplant surgeries, but many of them cannot afford it,” he said, urging the government to subsidise such surgeries to extend help to deserving patients.
Mohammad Romanuddin, 7, is one such patient who underwent the liver transplant surgery at the SIH. He is the child of a Malaysia-based couple.
“The high cost put us in a fix,” said Romanuddin’s mother Sumiya Atif. The boy’s parents approached Bahria Town management, which arranged the money within a few days.
According to World Health Organisation estimates, three to four million people were infected with hepatitis-C virus each year and two-thirds of them develop chronic liver disease, which is responsible for up to 70 per cent of liver cancers, while liver cirrhosis is the 18th most-common cause of death.
An estimated 11 million Pakistanis suffer from liver diseases and the country is referred to as “cirrhotic state” in international health circles.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 24th, 2014.