Shahbaz meets first kidney transplant patients at PKLI

[ahlam1399]

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Thursday visited the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI) and met two patients who recently went through free-of-cost kidney transplants at the state-of-the art facility.A team of highly-trained surgeons successfully performed the transplants, the first on Tuesday and the second on Thursday. The chief minister met the patients and their attendants who extended heartfelt gratitude for the provision of world-class treatment. He said one of the patients was from Misri Shah and the other from Qila Deedar Singh.He said one of them had both of his kidneys failed and was married just one and half years ago, adding that his brother and wife met him and were worried as they could not afford the treatment.“This is how you pay back to society and this is Quaid’s and Iqbal’s Pakistan,” he remarked. Addressing a ceremony, Shahbaz said the start of liver transplantation had been delayed because of many reasons and one of these was the people working on the project were afraid.He said the Infrastructure Development Authority (IDAP) CEO Mujahid Sherdil was an honest and hard-working official but had also become scared because of the peculiar environment created due to NAB.“Whosoever has done dishonesty or corruption, he should be held accountable, but those who are working honestly should also be appreciated,” he added and warned of a major damage if it wasn’t ensured.He said merit was fully promoted in Punjab, as all recruitments, including in police and employment of 200,000 teachers, had been done purely on merit. Shahbaz said the first phase of PKLI had been established at the cost of Rs20 billion, while work was under progress for setting up a world-class research centre and nursing school at the institute.He said the liver transplant facility would also be started in the next two to three months at PKLI which was open to the media to check the ground reality so as to understand how state-of-the-art facilities were being provided to poor patients.“This international level facility does not belong to Punjab as it is meant for entire Pakistan,” he said and added deserving patients coming from across the country would get free treatment at the institute.He invited patients from across Pakistan to come and get free treatment at PKLI, saying all expenditure would be borne by the Punjab government. He said besides transplant, which did not take place on daily basis yet, hundreds of patients were visiting the PKLI where free medical check-up and medicines were being provided to them daily.He said those who could afford such treatment abroad would have to come to PKLI for treatment as the same facilities would be available for them here in the country at much cheaper costs.Shahbaz said he could say without any doubt that the operation theatres and recovery rooms of PKLI matched the standards of ones at Sloan Kettering, Johns Hopkins and Cleveland. While explaining how expensive treatment at such facilities was, the chief minister said he spent $60,000 on cancer treatment at Sloan Kettering in 2003. In a lighter note, he added, he had disclosed the amount and was wondering how NAB might inquire the source of that amount.He said Rs1.5 billion had been spent on treatment of poor Pakistani patients in India during the last 10 years, but the chapter would be closed after the start of PKLI. He added that other hospitals, including the Aga Khan Hospital, had no worth before the PKLI where 70 medical experts from Europe and Middle East were currently working.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/com/cwEr/~4/oOIFKF6vu-8

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