Number of visiting patients at Karachi Institute of Heart Diseases (KIHD) has drastically dropped in the past five years, due to non-supply of medicines and other financial crises in the institution, Sources at KIHD told the media recently.
An anonymous Administrative official at the city’s second largest heart disease institution, informed that: The hospital is being run by Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and is suffering a severe financial crisis since last many years to provide Free of Cost healthcare to patients of cardiovascular diseases. He said; needy patients had to purchase costly medicines to save the lives of their dear ones as provincial authorities were not supplying medicines to the institution over the past five years.
He said; The hospital’s administration is providing all available treatments to poor patients despite limited resources. But due to non-supply of medicines and other financial crises, the number of visiting patients in the OPDs of KIHD has drastically dropped from 700 to 350 per day.
He said: KMC could not provide funds for medicines and other operations since the last several years. KMC authorities concerned have provided very low quantity of medicines to hospital administration against the actual requirement of institution.
He further informed that KIHD is a teaching hospital, fully equipped with emergency room, CCU, medical wards, surgical wards, private wards, intensive care unit, two cardiac catheterization laboratories, two surgical theaters, ECHO, ETT and nuclear imaging department, rehabilitation center, research department and laboratory for routine blood investigations.
KIHD caters to the needs of heart patients from not only Karachi but from interior of Sindh and Balochistan, other parts of country, Iran and Afghanistan as well.
Sources said; due to non-supply of drugs and financial crises, the poor and needy patients prefer to go to the other cardio-care hospitals with better health facilities. He said the high-ups of KMC and provincial health department are well aware of the current situation of the institution but have failed to address the crises being faced by the institution.
Senior Director Health & Medical Services at Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Dr Salma Kausar Ali was not available for comment.