Caretaker health minister opens free filter clinics at Kidney Centre

Sindh caretaker health minister Dr Saad Khalid Niaz said on Tuesday that The Kidney Centre is one of the best centres providing renal care to patients on a no-profit basis and vowed to provide every possible assistance to the centre in its expansion.

“The Kidney Centre is one of the best renal care centres across Pakistan and I’m impressed with their infrastructure, human resource and capacity. The Sindh government would be delighted to help the Kidney Centre in expanding its services and cater to more patients,” he said while inaugurating a free filter clinic at the facility.

The caretaker health minister asked the administration of The Kidney Centre to provide the details of audited accounts of their institution to the health department so that it could also be provided government aid for welfare activities as well as expansion of its facilities.

Dr Niaz maintained that the government could provide financial assistance for the construction of a new operation theater complex and an expanded Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the centre. He said he would raise the issue of financial assistance before the provincial cabinet for the provision of assistance like other charitable healthcare facilities in Sindh.

The chief executive officer of The Kidney Centre, Dr Rashid Jooma, gave a detailed presentation on the facilities available at renal care centre, saying that they provided free of charge health services to over one hundred thousand people at the centre last year through their Patients Welfare Program.

He said free consultation, laboratory tests and ultrasound facilities would be provided to patients at the free filter clinics at The Kidney Centre and those who required treatment would be referred to the consultant clinics within the centre.

Dr Rashid Jooma said that in order to continue providing quality health facilities to people from the underprivileged class of the society, they needed more funds for the expansion of their operation theater as well as expanding their ICU and sought the Sindh government’s support to provide healthcare services to more patients.

He also shared the growing burden of renal diseases in the country, saying that a large number of people were suffering from chronic kidney disease (CKD) due to hypertension and diabetes. He also stressed preventive measures to lower the incidence of kidney ailments.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by the chairperson of the Board of Governors of The Kidney Centre, Maryana Karim, and other members of the board of governors.