A kidney patient performs the ground-breaking ceremony of the new operation theatre being constructed by SIUT, Sukkur. PHOTO: EXPRESS
"It is quite unfortunate that when the poor people of the country need medical assistance, they have only two options, either to pay for it or die," said Dr Adeebul Hassan Rizvi, addressing the event. He added that to minimise their sufferings to some extent, they have come up with a third option for them, which is to not let anybody die only because the person cannot pay.
Dr Rizvi shared his experience from 2009 when he was searching for a suitable place to establish a unit of SIUT in Sukkur. Dr Rizvi and his team's search ended at the historical Chablani Hospital. This hospital was established as a maternity home by a woman named Dr Chablani in 1930. She did her MBBS from India and shifted to Sukkur to serve its people, Rizvi said.
However, the hospital was in bad shape and was not being run properly, he recalled. Dr Rizvi and his team took over the hospital and started constructing the SIUT unit in the same year. "Today, we have 1,000 kidney patients registered for dialysis and, besides the operations and lithotripsy, 100 dialysis are conducted every day," he said.
Appreciating the efforts of the people who give charity, Rizvi said that they have extended the eight-bed-unit to 800 beds in 10 centres across the country with the help of donations.
The ceremony was performed by a kidney patient Sanaullah Shaikh, who had a major surgery on Thursday. Shaikh thanked Dr Rizvi and his team for taking care of the kidney patients without hurting their self-respect. At SIUT, the poor and needy are treated like VIPS and without any discrimination between the poor and rich, he said.
Talking about the post-operation care at the hospital, he pointed out how he was proudly performing the ground-breaking ceremony after going through a major operation only 24 hours ago.
Senior professor Manzoor Hussain also spoke about the project in detail. The new four-storey building will consist of a state-of-the-art operation theatre, an intensive care unit and a kidney transplantation facility, he said. Feroza Hasham Foundation donated Rs60 million, Hussain announced, adding that on completion of the construction, the foundation will also help provide more facilities to the patients.
"This region is known for kidney ailments, because of the high temperature and lack of potable water," Hussain said, adding that this results in renal failure in the long run. "Our motto at SIUT is to provide free treatment with dignity," he said.
Others who spoke on the occasion were Dr Chaman Lal, Faheemuz Zaman Khan, Professor Zafar Ahmed Khan and Professor Murli Dhar. Sukkur Chamber of Commerce and Industry's former president Khan Munawar Khan and CCI president Aamir Ghouri also attended the ceremony.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 4th, 2015.
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