NICVD’s Lyari chest pain unit to be upgraded

The chest pain unit (CPU) established in Lyari by the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases would be upgraded to a Satellite Centre where cardiac care facilities would be available to locals free of charge.

This was stated by Information Adviser Murtaza Wahab on Tuesday while speaking to reporters in Lyari after visiting the CPU there. “Lyari is like a crown for Pakistan Peoples Party and on the directives from PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the Chest Pain Unit at Lyari General Hospital would be upgraded into a full-fledged cardiac hospital with facilities of angiography, angioplasty and even surgeries,” said Wahab.

Accompanied by NICVD Executive Director Prof Nadeem Qamar, LGH Medical Superintendent Dr Khadim Hussain and the local leadership of Lyari, the information adviser visited different sections of the CPU and felicitated the NICVD administration for running an excellent facility.

“This is an excellent facility where in the case of heart attack, first aid is given to the patient by trained and qualified doctors and then he or she is shifted to main NICVD through a state-of-the-art ambulance,” he said, adding that the ambulance was also equipped with a ventilator to provide artificial life support.

Wahab added that since its establishment, 40,000 people had visited Lyari’s CPU, of which several hundred were having heart attacks and who were shifted to the main NICVD for further care.

On the occasion, he announced extending the network of NICVD to other provinces, saying the first satellite centre of the cardiac hospital in another province would be established within the next three months.

Lauding the services of Prof Nadeem Qamar in transforming NICVD into one of the best cardiac treatment centres of the world, Wahab said now patients from across Pakistan were arriving at NICVD Karachi and its satellite centres in Sukkur, Larkana and six other cities.

He further said that 10 more CPUs were being established at different locations in Karachi so that precious time could be saved in case of heart attack and patients could be given first aid before moving them to main NICVD.

Responding to a query, he said that along with the NICVD and its satellite centres, the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre’s Cyber Knife facility, Indus Hospital, Badin and many other public health facilities were providing the best available treatment facilities to the people of Sindh.

“I can proudly announce that Sindh is far ahead in the provision of health facilities as compared to other provinces. Now we are establishing branches of our health institutions in other provinces as per vision of our Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari,” he said.