State-of-the-art: Kidney, liver transplant institute in the offing

Needy patients will be treated for free at the institute.

LAHORE:

Adviser to Chief Minister on Health Khwaja Salman Rafique said on Sunday that a state-of-the-art kidney and liver transplant institute was being established in the city.

Rafique was speaking to reporters after presenting the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute Trust chairman Saeed Akhtar with a cheque for Rs300 million on behalf of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. He said the foundation-stone laying ceremony of the institute would be organised later this month. Rafique said that the government had allotted 50 acres to build the institute on Bedian Road. He said the government would fund the construction of the institute.



Rafique said that six billion rupees would be needed annually to run the institute. He said the government would provide 25 per cent of the total amount. Rafique said the rest of the expenses would be met by the trust through philanthropic institutions and private donors. He said legislation in this regard had already been carried out by the Punjab Assembly.

Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute Trust chairman Akhtar told reporters that over 100 liver transplants had been successfully carried out at Islamabad’s Al-Shifa International.

He said that he had also been working on liver and kidney transplants in the United States of America for some time. Akhtar said the institute would be a centre-of-excellence where transplants of international standards would be carried out. He said this would eliminate the need for patients to travel abroad for the procedure. Akhtar said underprivileged patients would be treated for free at the institute.

He said erstwhile, the government had been spending billions of rupees on getting underprivileged patients treated abroad. Akhtar said the establishment of the institute would save precious foreign exchange by putting an end to this. He said the institute would also function as a research centre and have a facility to impart training to doctors in this field. Akhtar said that consultants of international standing would be hired to work at the institute. He said the establishment of the institute would provide thousands of people with jobs. Health Services Secretary Jawad Rafique Malik, Finance Department Special Secretary Ahmed Raza Sarwar, Health Services Director General Zahid Pervaiz and several members of the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute Trust were also present on the occasion.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th, 2015.