MN Report
Khairpur: Liver transplantation centre set up at the Gambat Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) at a cost of Rs917 million was inaugurated by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah.
The CM on this occasion also announced to give the status of a university to the GIMS.
Inaugurating the Gambat’s liver transplantation centre, the chief minister hoped that the centre would go a long way in transplanting liver of people free of charge.
Deploring that the number of hepatitis patients were on the rise in Sindh, he noted that people belonging to lower and middle-classes cannot afford liver transplantation as it costs between Rs6 and Rs7 million.
Referring to facilities available at GIMS, the CM said that the people of Sindh and the areas falling in its vicinity will now be able to get free of charge treatment of various ailments such as open heart, liver and kidney at the institute, the OPD of which is visited by as many as 4,000 patients daily.
Pointing out that Sindh government has accorded top priority to the health and education sectors, he informed the audience that the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), Karachi, was being revamped at a cost of Rs8 billion, besides a 15-storey building was being built within the premises of NICVD to help provide better treatment to the people suffering from heart diseases.
He appreciated the spirit and dedication demonstrated by an eight-member team of liver transplant experts from Germany in establishing the Liver Transplant Centre at the GIMS.
At the outset, CM lauded the selfless services being rendered by renowned kidney specialist Prof Adibul Hasan Rizvi and the GIMS director Dr Rahim Bux Bhatti for the ailing community.
Speaking on the occasion, Sindh Health Minister Jam Mehtab Dahar said that the transplantation centre was first of its kind at a public sector health facility.
He also lauded the efforts of Dr Bhatti in establishing the centre in a short span of six months.
Earlier, Dr Bhatti in his welcome address highlighted salient features of the centre.
Head of the Germans expert team, Dr Baker, also addressed the centre’s inaugural ceremony.