government for enhancing NICVD’s grant from Rs400 million to Rs1.1 billion, adding that Rs1.8 billion more were being provided for the establishment of paediatric surgery unit at the cardiovascular institute.
In addition to government support, he said, civil society and philanthropists were also coming forward and helping in the acquisition of costly equipment and other material resources for the treatment of poor who could not afford costly treatment of heart diseases at private hospitals.
On the occasion, the NICVD executive director announced the institute would double the bypass procedures from 1,300 to 2,500 per year very soon.
Speaking on the occasion, Sindh health minister Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar said he had failed to achieve targets he had set himself for improving health sector of the province but claimed that things had improved by at least 30 percent since he had assumed office. He said nowadays heart diseases had become the diseases of the poor and it was evident from the larger number of people from the lower-income groups visiting the NICVD.
He said the lower-income groups had begun living a sedentary life while lack of financial resources and economic stress was resulting in increased heart ailments among its people.
“There is a need to create awareness among poor people who live in areas of low-socioeconomic backgrounds instead of holding seminars and conferences at four and five star hotels. We should now reach to the areas of masses and make them aware of the habits leading to heart diseases,” said the health minister.
Talking about the steps taken by the provincial health department for improving health facilities in Sindh, he claimed that soon patients would not have to come to Karachi from Hyderabad for treatment of heart ailments since all types of health care facilities will be provided in their city.
Similarly, he said, modern treatment facilities were also being provided at the Gambat Institute of Health Sciences, including liver transplant surgeries which would commence shortly.
Earlier, senior cardiologists of the country urged people to adopt healthy lifestyles, work to lower their cholesterol levels, hypertension and diabetes by exercising regularly and eating a healthy diet. They said heart ailments killed more people in the world than cancer and other communicable and non-communicable diseases.
Dr Syed Ishtiaq Rasool, Dr Zahid Jamal and Dr Nadeem Rizvi called for establishing at least five to eight more institutes of heart diseases in a city like Karachi where the population was spinning out of control but health facilities could not cater to the people’s needs. They feared that coronary heart diseases would rise in Pakistan and its heavily populated cities such as Karachi due to the increase in population and stated awareness to be the only solution for preventing such diseases.
They said only eating healthy and balanced diets, regular exercise and stress-free lifestyles could not only keep heart diseases away but also lessen their economic burdens.
Ebad presents awards
Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan presented excellence in service awards to senior cardiologists, physicians and surgeons for their services to ailing humanity and for serving the people of Sindh, especially Karachi, selflessly.
The awards were presented at a ceremony held at the Sindh Governor’s House in connection with World Heart Day.
The council generals of Malaysia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates in Karachi, Sindh Health Secretary Saeed Ahmed Mangnejo, Executive Director National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) Dr Nadeem Qamar, Arshad Siddiqi and others were also present on the occasion.
Doctors who were presented with awards by the governor included Dr Hameedullah Malik, Dr Zahid Jamal, Dr Roohi Illyas, Dr Anees Memon and Dr Tariq Shafi, while Dr Saeed Ahmed, Dr Nadeem Rizvi and Dr Nadeem Qamar were presented with shields. The governor lauded the services of cardiologists, physicians and surgeons on receiving excellence in service awards and urged them to continue creating awareness among the people besides treating heart patients as prevention was the key to prevent the burden of heart ailments.