Dialysis Unit to be soon opened in Larkana

KARACHI: The Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) will start providing dialysis facilities to kidney patients at its Larkana Unit, an extended part of the SIUT Chablani Medical Centre of Sukkur.

Once this unit is operational, by the mid of August this year, it is expected that it would carry out 100,000 dialysis sessions to approximately 950 patients every year. The unit's purpose is to provide relief to the vast population of Larkana and its adjoining areas. Currently, the unit is in its final stages.

The SIUT’s spokesperson said that the water purification system has been installed by reverse osmosis and would also be ready for use in a few weeks. The drainage system, which is a local government project, is also in the final stages, the release added.

Twelve dialysis machines have already reached Larkana, which will now be put for trial testing for two weeks. Patients’ monitors required for High Dependency Units are in the process of being installed, while the radiology and pathology facilities are also in their final stages.

Giving the details, the release said that the unit would be a functional branch of the SIUT Sukkur, which is a full-fledged hospital providing inpatient and outpatient services, operation theatres, 24-hour dialysis units, lithotripsy, laboratory, and radiology services to thousands of patients yearly for more than a decade all free with dignity.

The SIUT is the country's largest public-sector dialysis network, which caters to 61% of Sindh's load of dialysis patients. Around 8,000 renal failure patients are benefited each year at the SIUT, which provides them with the state-of-the-art dialysis treatment facilities.

These facilities are located at various satellite units and main hospitals of Karachi and Sukkur, where over 394,000 dialysis sessions were conducted last year.

It may be pointed out here that the usual cost of each dialysis session in private hospitals ranges from PKR 3,000 to 5,000, whereas the SIUT is providing the same facility to its patients free of cost for decades.

-MN Report