NICVD, Sukkur gets electrophysiology lab facility & 2nd cath lab

Sukkur: The Executive Director of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), Prof Nadeem Qamar inaugurated an electrophysiology lab and the second catheterization (cath) lab at the NICVD’s Sukkur Satellite Center. He stated that these new facilities would now facilitate a more significant number of patients who require pacemakers, ICDs, and other implants and angioplasties from Northern Sindh, Southern Punjab, and the entire Balochistan province.

“On the first anniversary of the NICVD, Sukkur, we are going to inaugurate an electrophysiology lab and the second cath lab which would benefit thousands of patients from Northern Sindh, Southern Punjab, and the entire Balochistan province. NICVD, Sukkur, has now become one of the best cardiac-care hospitals in all of Pakistan where patients from abroad can come for quality cardiac treatment without any charge”, Prof Qamar said while addressing a news conference on the occasion of the first anniversary of the completion of the NICVD, Sukkur.

On occasion, he also cut a cake to mark the first anniversary along with senior cardiologists, professors, and cardiac surgeons. Additionally, Prof Qamar attended various presentations discussing the hospital’s performance as well as the issues facing the hospital. He also visited the different wards and sections of the healthcare facility.

Prof. Nadeem Qamar also announced the establishment of the first Chest Pain Unit (CPU) of the NICVD outside of Karachi within a couple of weeks and vowed to establish chest pain and heart-attack management units all across Sindh so that the lives of people could be saved in case of heart attacks.

"We are running one of the best chest pain and heart-attack management programs in the world, and our 8 CPUs in Karachi have saved over 5000 lives in a single year, which is an incomparable performance by any means in the world", Prof. Qamar said. He added that every district of Sindh and major towns would be equipped with chest pain units so that people could be provided timely first aid in the case of heart attacks.

He maintained that with the establishment of electrophysiology lab, now all types of device implants including pacemakers, ICDs would be performed at the NICVD, Sukkur, which would benefit thousands of people from all of Pakistan. “We are also going to start pediatric cardiac surgeries at the NICVD, Sukkur very soon," he announced.

Praising the team of cardiologists running the NICVD Sukkur center, which started functioning by the start of March 2018, he informed that so far 201 bypass surgeries had successfully been performed at the hospital with only one mortality and claimed that it was the best performance by any cardiac-care hospital in the world.

“Since its establishment, around 56000 patients were treated in the OPDs, over 58000 patients visited our emergency while over 9000 children were examined at the pediatric OPDs at the hospital”, he said adding that during the past one year, 12553 patients were provided the facility of Primary PCI, which is a type of angioplasty performed following heart attack.

Prof. Qamar claimed that over 166,000 patients from all four provinces and even Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan had been treated since March 2018 at the NICVD, Sukkur, adding that a few years back, nobody could have dreamt of such a sophisticated and state-of-the-art hospital in this part of Northern Sindh.

To a query, Prof Qamar responded saying that the NICVD had also launched a preventive cardiology program which was being led by a senior cardiologist but added that this program could not be succeeded without the collaboration of federal and provincial governments, doctors and media, and urged the national and local media to create awareness about heart disease, which is now the leading cause of death among Pakistanis.

Responding to another query, he informed that the provincial government had filed a review petition. He further stated that he hoped the NICVD would continue to remain under the administrative control of the Sindh government, which is spending billions of rupees to provide premium cardiac care facilities not only to the people of Sindh but also to the people of other provinces of Pakistan.

"But even if the federal government runs this facility, they would have to run it like Sindh government and provide free of charge quality treatment otherwise it would be a political disaster for them," he observed.