Random thoughts
Recently, the prime minister announced a healthcare package for the masses. This is a very good initiative to help the poor, as they are in dire need of such facilities – belated, but most welcome.
In this respect, Chief Minister of Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif, has already been very active in setting up medical facilities all over Punjab. Two very prominent examples are the advanced facilities in Rawalpindi: the Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology (RIC) and the Rawalpindi Institute of Urology (RIU). The construction of these two institutes and many other laudable projects, such as the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metrobus and the upgrading of colleges, were supervised by my good friend, Hanif Abbasi – a competent and efficient public figure.
Recently, Mian Shahbaz Sharif approved the establishment of a state-of-the-art, modern kidney and liver transplant hospital. He has already allocated Rs 15 billion and 50 acres of land in Phase VI of DHA, Lahore for this purpose. The brain behind this important project is my good friend, Dr Saeed Akhtar, head of the urology department at Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad.
When I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2006, the operation was performed at Aga Khan Hospital in Karachi by the very competent Dr Farhat Abbas, who later became a good friend. Dr Saeed Akhtar and DG KRL Health Services Division Dr Kamran Majeed, also a very competent urologist, were both present at the operation. The procedure was successful, thank God, and regular blood tests indicate that there has been no recurrence so far.
Dr Saeed Akhtar is a great humanitarian and always ready to help needy patients. Recognising that there are many patients with kidney and liver diseases in Pakistan, of whom only the rich can afford to go to India, Europe, the US or elsewhere if surgery is required, he decided to set up this facility in Lahore so that even the poor can benefit. It will be known as the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute and Research Centre (Trust), Lahore. The patron-in-chief is the chief minister and Dr Saeed Akhtar is the president.
The trust has a large number of top-class medical specialists and well known industrialists/philanthropists. I am sure it will be one of a kind in Pakistan and among the best in the world. Dr Saeed Akhtar is US-trained, practised there for many years and has many friends there who would be willing to assist him in this humanitarian project. Moreover, the chief minister’s secretary for implementation, Anis Karim Khan, is a very efficient officer, who, no doubt, will keep an eye on the progress of the project.
The institute will have teaching facilities for undergraduate and graduate trainees. The hospital will have about 800 beds: 100 for emergency services, 100 for intensive care, 100 for dialysis and 500 for permanent, regular patients. There will be 20 operating theatres and 10 suites for those who can afford to pay for the luxury. The latest radiological equipment, ultrasound machines, pathology laboratories, MRI machines, gamma cameras, a blood bank, a research laboratory, a nursing training school for 100 trainees, etc will be available.
Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif has already sanctioned Rs469 million for this fiscal year and Rs3 billion have been allocated for the next financial year. The facility has been exempted from tax by the CBR, which makes all donations tax deductible. The services of the respected and able journalist, Mr Talat Hussain, have been acquired to promote the cause of this humanitarian programme.
Talking about medical humanitarian facilities, and in line with the chief minister’s aims for healthcare, brings me to the next topic. I, together with many like-minded, kind-hearted friends and philanthropists, am setting up a 300-bed welfare hospital in Lahore, near Minar-e-Pakistan and adjacent to Ravi Park on Muhammad Ali Road: the Dr A Q Khan Trust Hospital. It is to be built on a 16-kanal plot. This land belongs to the Evacuee Property Board and Siddiq al-Farooque and his colleagues are working out the details of leasing it to us. Inshallah, this will be settled soon, so that we can go all out with the construction. In order to meet the urgent needs of the local community, we have been running an outdoor patients department, where thousands of patients are receiving free treatment. Those willing and able to pay for the services are encouraged to do so and the money goes into the funds for free medical care.
The services of general physicians, cardiologists, paediatric surgeons, gynaecologists, ENT specialists, dermatologists, radiologists, urologists, pathologists, psychiatrists, etc are available, as are colour Doppler, ultrasound, digital x-ray machine, test laboratory, operation theatre and pharmacy. In short, it is a well-equipped, neat and clean facility, and the local community is extremely happy with the services available.
We hope to start construction within the next few weeks (as soon as the lease agreement comes through) and the project will be completed in about two years. The whole programme is being run under a trust. Any philanthropists wanting to participate in this humanitarian work can contact Shaukat Virk, executive director (0333-4232762 and 0306-7775777). Donations can be deposited in UBL account number 0635212898932 or HBL account number 1249-79003745-03 in the name of the Dr A Q Khan Hospital Trust, for which the patients and management are sincerely grateful. Tax exemption on all donations has been requested from the CBR and is pending.
Tailpiece: The Panama Papers have shaken the political scenario in Pakistan. As was to be expected, Imran Khan went for the jugular vein of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Even the PPP started a verbal assault, conveniently forgetting Surrey Palace, the chalet in France and the $60 million stashed in Swiss Banks.
Despite all the rhetoric and threats at the time, even the then chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, could not get a penny back. We have seen the results (or the lack thereof) of all previous investigatory ‘commissions’ and the Panama Leaks one will be no different.
Email: dr.a.quadeer.khangmail.com