KARACHI:As many as 6000 patients from entire Pakistan daily avail cardiac-care facilities, ranging from OPD consultations to angiography, angioplasty procedures, open heart surgeries and different types of implants, including mechanical pumps, free of cost at National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD).
Around 99 percent of those who are benefitted from these services are poor and non-influential patients.
“Daily 6000 patients from poor and non-influential class of society from entire Pakistan avail quality cardiac-care services at NICVD system spread over entire Sindh province – from Karachi to Ghotki. NICVD system comprises dozens of Satellite and Chest Pain Units linked to main hospital in Karachi”, Executive Director NICVD Prof Nadeem Qamar said in a statement on Saturday.
Prof Qamar said NICVD system is now catering to a large number of patients in a single day who are mostly from the poor segment of the society and come from entire Pakistan to Sindh to avail free of charge cardiac-care facilities which are mostly charged in other provinces of the country.
“We are daily serving patients from as far as Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, who daily visit NICVD network of hospitals from Sukkur to Karachi to avail free cardiac treatment because they cannot afford costly cardiac services in other provinces of Pakistan,” Qamar said adding that not a single penny is charged from the patients for performing world-class procedures and surgeries at the NICVD health system.
Prof Qamar further said all the Cath Labs at main NICVD in Karachi and its satellite centers in Hyderabad, Tando Muhammad Khan, Mithi, Nawabshah, Sehwan, Larkana, Khairpur, Larkana, and Sukkur were fully functional where both Primary PCI procedures and elective angiography, angioplasty services were being provided round the clock without any interruption.
“Similarly, complicated heart surgeries including open heart surgeries are also being performed at NICVD Satellites at Tando Muhammad Khan, Larkana and Sukkur in addition to main NICVD in Karachi on daily basis”, Prof Qamar said adding that not a single rupee is charged from any patient from any part of the country and all health services provided free of charge irrespective of cast, creed and faith at NICVD system.
At the same time, around a dozen Chest Pain Units (CPUs) of NICVD are also functional at different locations in Karachi and Ghotki as well as Tando Bago towns of the province where hundreds of patients are daily provided emergency services in case of chest pain and heart attack, Prof Nadeem Qamar maintained.
Newsdesk