Pakistan’s first institute of advanced endoscopy starts working in Karachi

Pakistan’s first institute of advanced endoscopy and gastroenterology on Thursday became functional in Karachi, where three successful endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) procedures were performed free of charge.

“Today the Sindh Institute of Advanced Endoscopy and Gastroenterology [SIAG] established at the Dr Ruth KM Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi [CHK] became functional,” SIAG Executive Director Dr Saad Khalid Niaz told The News.

“We performed three successful ERCP procedures. Two of the patients who had ERCP were cancer patients. Not a single penny was charged from these patients, who were discharged the same day.”

ERCP is a procedure to diagnose and treat problems in the liver, gallbladder, bile ducts, and pancreas. It combines X-ray and the use of an endoscope (a long, flexible, lighted tube), experts said, adding that private health facilities charge thousands of rupees for ERCP, endoscopic ultrasound and other procedures.

Established through a bill passed by the provincial assembly last year in June, the SIAG will be formally inaugurated by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on May 17, said Dr Niaz, who performed and supervised the completed endoscopic procedures.

He said the SIAG is the first such institute where all the state-of-the-art facilities, including advanced endoscopy, colonoscopy, ERCP and extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) for pancreatitis, are available.

“Established at a cost of Rs750 million at the CHK, a complete floor of a building has been dedicated for the institute. It is the first such institute in entire Pakistan where all the advanced diagnostic and treatment facilities of gastrointestinal tract would be performed free of charge.”

The CHK administration had handed over a complete floor comprising two wards to Dr Niaz’s team for the establishment of the institute, for which funds and material resources were provided by the provincial health department.

The SIAG executive director said they plan to establish the institute on the pattern of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, with its headquarters in Karachi and satellite centres in at least five cities of Sindh, to provide advanced gastroenterological services to the people of the entire province.

He said he had been performing advanced endoscopies, ERCP and other such procedures at a small unit of the CHK since 2006. He added that they had performed over 1,300 ERCP procedures as well as hundreds of other procedures, including endoscopy and colonoscopy.

He mentioned that it was the provincial government that had approached him and offered to help him convert his unit into a proper institute of advanced endoscopy and gastroenterology.

“The CM was interested in the idea and offered to establish it as an independent institute with its own governing board having all the administrative and financial powers.” Dr Niaz said that after he agreed to be a part of the project, the idea was formally presented before the provincial cabinet, which gave the approval for the establishment of the institute.

He explained that he managed to acquire a complete floor of a building in the CHK complex where a surgical ward and a paediatric ward remained closed. He said the SIAG comprises four advanced endoscopic suites where all the advanced procedures would be performed free of charge for patients from entire Pakistan. He added that the institute would have international accreditations and recognitions as they were already doing most advanced procedures in the field of gastroenterology.

“We have also planned to provide the facility of ESWL for pancreatic stones, which is currently not available anywhere in Pakistan. We want to make the SIAG a state-of-the-art institute on the pattern of the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology in Hyderabad, India, where patients from several neighbouring countries come for treatment.”