KARACHI, Mar 20 (APP): Chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto on Monday performed a ground-breaking at a ceremony held for the construction of the 1200-bedded- Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases at Korangi, here.

The ceremony was attended by Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah, Federal Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel, Provincial Health Minister Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho, Senator Nisar Khuhro, Executive Director NICVD Dr Nadeem Qamar, all the provincial ministers, diplomats, MPAs and PPP leaders and workers in a large number.

The new ZAB institute of cardiovascular disease stretches over an area of 40 Acres, located just North of the intersection of Main Korangi Road with Shah Faisal Korangi Road. The site is bordered on the south by the Institute of Animal Health.

Speaking at the foundation stone-laying ceremony, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that Pakistan was going through economic, political and constitutional crises.

He said that Sindh was being deprived of local bodies representatives. PPP was accused for not holding local elections, he said and asked now who was stopping this system from moving forward.

“We have held the local body elections and now who is stopping the election of the Mayor?” he asked.

“Some elements are hindering the election of a PPP Mayor and now our mandate is being robbed off,” said Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

“The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has given a date of April 18 during the month of Ramadan for the by-elections of local bodies in Sindh for the leftover UCs and the local bodies will elect their heads on April 30,” he said.

However, Bilawal directed Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and Law Minister Murtaza Wahab to immediately approach the Sindh High Court against the schedule issued by the ECP.

The foreign minister also expressed concerns over the ongoing digital census in the country and added that “we have drawn a red line on this matter”.

The PPP Chairman said that new free heart treatment hospitals were being established, adding there was no hospital in the whole world that could treat this number of patients for free.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that under the 18th Constitutional Amendment, NICVD Karachi was handed over to the Sindh government in the year 2015, and now this institution had become the world’s largest free heart disease hospital.

He said the NICVD Sukkur was the largest hospital after NICVD Karachi, while there were satellite centers associated with this institution in Hyderabad and Larkana as well as in Tando Muhammad Khan, Sehwan, Nawabshah, Mithi and Khairpur.

Seventeen chest pain units are functioning in Karachi, while such units are also functional in Ghotki, Tando Bago, Jacobabad, Umerkot, Tando Allahyar, Mirpurkhas and Shikarpur.

He further said the PPP was of the opinion that having no money should not be an obstacle in the treatment of a citizen, adding that NICVD Hospital of Sindh was ready to compete with any hospital in India and Europe.

He said that for the past 15 years, a few critics had been busy on targeting the Sindh government and were questioning what had PPP done. He said the well-performing NICVD was an answer to these opponents.

He said that those 70-year-old politicians who say that their struggle spanned 30 years and claimed rivers of milk and honey flowed during their rule but not a single hospital like NICVD was established in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces where they ruled. “I am 30 years old and in a short period of time I have made the world’s largest hospital for the free treatment of cardiovascular diseases,” he added.

Bilawal said that at present inflation, unemployment and poverty were on the rise and in these conditions, this was a gift for the people of the entire country including Sindh province.

He pointed out that more than one lac patients from other provinces had benefited through getting free of cost medical treatment in the hospitals built by the Sindh government. Medical treatment in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was only for money while in Sindh free treatment was being provided to serve humanity.

The PPP Chairman said that in Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, there was a scam going on in the name of health cards, where public money was being given to private insurance companies instead of spending on hospitals.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister apprised the chairman about the new ZAB institute and about the health initiatives he had taken so far.

He said that after the commendable achievement of NICVD in cardiac quality care and treatment for the people of Pakistan, the ZAB institute would be another huge achievement of his government to establish a 1200-bed hospital,

Murad Shah said that upon completion, the ZAB Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases would be the world’s largest cardiac center, catering to a projected population of 20 million in Karachi and also to the rest of the country.

“This state-of-the-art complex will comprise seven buildings, occupying a total area of 2,400,000 square feet. Equipped with the most advanced medical technology,” he said and added that it would offer specialized cardiac medical services, including 16 major and minor operating rooms, 18 cardiac cath labs, two  MRI labs, four CT labs, and a range of imaging procedures.

The CM said the hospital would boast the country’s largest clinical and animal research facility, among other services.

“Pakistan Peoples Party prides itself on always recognizing healthcare as one of its major priorities,” the chief minister said, adding that Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto always urged the party to focus on education and on health.

Talking about SIUT Healthcare Model, the Community-Govt partnership, the CM said that between 2018 to 2022 the largest dialysis centre with 380 machines performed around 1350 sessions daily.

He said that the largest transplant center performed 6,844 kidney transplants with life-long follow-up and medications for both donors and recipients. The CM said that the center with five lithotripters treating a large number of stone diseases, dedicated pediatric urology, nephrology, and transplant center.

He added that it has a dedicated oncology hospital in the public sector with two radiotherapy machines and PET CT facilities. He proudly said that nearly 15 million people benefited from different services during the last five years.

In Sukkur transplant service was started in SIUT Chablani Hospital where at breast cancer unit surgery, chemo, radiotherapy, and PET CT facilities had been provided.

Murad Ali Shah talking about the JPMC ‘Cyberknife’ unit, said that it has treated 38, 000 patients and 18000 radio surgeries completed since 2012. He said that a new surgical complex was being established there. The new CyberKnife Unit was being equipped with a robotic surgery facility.

The Chief Minister said that Gambat Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) had performed 756 liver transplants, 147 kidney transplants, 101 Cornea transplants, 43 Bone marrow transplants, 142 cochlear implant procedures and treated 2446 cancer patients, and gamma knife and 194400 patients in emergency.

Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah talking about his government’s partnership with Childlife Foundation said that his government was working with them in 95 Sindh government hospitals and this partnership would further extend to all the government hospitals by the end of this year.

The CM said that no child would be more than 30 minutes away from the world-class ICU services across Sindh. “We treat 1.2 million Pediatric Patients per year. “In the near future we are going to integrate with ambulatory services,” he concluded.

Earlier, Minister Health Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho talked about the health services being provided by the provincial government. Executive Director Dr Nadeem Qamar gave a detailed briefing about the ZAB institute project and about the performance of the NICVD and its satellites.