KARACHI: Barrister Murtaza Wahab, spokesperson of Government of Sindh, Advisor to Chief Minister for Law, Sindh and Administrator, Karachi, had said that Chief Minister of Sindh had convened a meeting of Corona Task Force on the current situation of COVID-19.
He expressed these views while addressing a press conference at the Committee Room of the Sindh Assembly Building. He stated that the number of cases of COVID-19 had amplified rapidly, and in the last 24 hours, the rate of positive cases had increased from 6 per cent, whereas a month ago, it was less than 1 per cent. He acknowledged that "we do not want to take drastic measures at this time, so citizens should be careful."
He appealed to the citizens that the most effective way to avoid Omicron is wearing a mask and getting vaccinated. Ninety million people had been vaccinated in Sindh by combining the first and second doses.
He further added that health card is a big scam, and the government's job is to run the hospital efficiently. Bringing this health card is proof that Pakistan Tehreek-Insaf (PTI) had not been able to fix the state-owned health facilities.
He said that "the situation is still under control. The government does not want to make tough decisions. If you take care of SOPs in social events, you will be able to deal with this epidemic more efficiently. We must also play our part as citizens." He said that people in the federal government allege that Sindh is not issuing health cards because citizens are being treated for free in hospitals under the Government of Sindh.
He highlighted that people from all over Pakistan come for treatment in Sindh. Issuing health cards is a confession that they cannot run government hospitals.
The spokesperson added that "the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) treated more than 1.8 million patients free of cost in a single year. In Karachi alone, 900,000 patients received absolutely free treatment. Ninety thousand patients were treated in NICVD, Hyderabad and one hundred and ninety-seven thousand in Sukkur. Twenty-seven thousand patients were treated free of cost in NICVD, Mithi, Tharparkar and 39,000 in Khairpur."
Criticizing the federal government, he said that "this would not be the case today if they had fixed their hospitals. These patients are not coming to Sindh from all over the country. The Gambat Institute is given Rs 4.5 billion annually by the Sindh government. The Pakistan Peoples Party - Parliamentarians (PPPP) is proud to say that free cornea, kidney and liver transplants are being done in these facilities."
He added "Earlier people used to go to India for liver transplantation. Five hundred and fifty liver transplants have been performed in Sindh so far. The cost per patient is Rs. 4 million. We enable our hospitals to provide treatment in Sindh. Of these, 52% belonged to Sindh, and the remaining 48% belonged to other provinces. "
He further articulated that the Government of Sindh proudly says that they were not in the federation but serve the whole of Pakistan. In the year 2021, more than five thousand patients from Azad Kashmir came to NICVD and received free treatment. More than 125,000 patients came to Sindh from Balochistan. More than 8,000 patients from KPK turned to Sindh. More than 51,000 patients came from Punjab who were treated free of cost. One hundred forty people underwent a kidney transplant at Gambit Institute. One hundred and twelve people were treated for the cornea. The Bone Marrow was inaugurated in Dow and is now available in Gambit.
In 2021, 11 people underwent bone marrow transplants. Cyberknife cost 50,000 to 90 90,000 worldwide and was available free of charge at Jinnah Hospital in Karachi. So far, 14,882 patients have received free cyberknife treatment. More than 200 cancer patients have been treated with homoeopathy. Radiation treatment was provided free of cost to 140 cancer patients daily. Patients from 163 cities of Pakistan came to Sindh for treatment. Patients came here from 15 countries," he concluded.