Asad Umar to ask CM to resolve financial issues of Abbasi Shaheed Hospital

Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar along with Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar visited the COVID-19 Infection Disease and Research Centre established at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital on Saturday.

Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Metropolitan Commissioner Dr Syed Saifur Rehman, KMC Senior Director Medical and Health Services Dr Birbal Genani, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Nadeem Rajput and other officials were also present on the occasion.

Talking to the media after the visit, Umar thanked the mayor for inviting him to visit the centre. He said the federal government would fully support Karachi as it was the biggest city of Pakistan.

The federal minister said that record amount was allocated for health sector in the federal budget for the fiscal year 2020-21. He added that health was basically a provincial subject but since the country had been facing a pandemic and an emergency situation, the federal government had decided to establish health facilities of 7,000 beds across the country in July 2020. "Out of these 7,000 beds, 500 beds would be set up in Karachi,” he added.

Umar said that a modern laboratory should also be established along with the Infection Disease and Research Centre.

He assured the mayor that he would talk to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority chairman to ensure provision of oxygen kits at the isolation ward of Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. "I will also ask Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah to resolve financial issues of health institutions including Abbasi Shaheed Hospital," he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Akhtar expressed gratitude to the federal minister for visiting the hospital and said that they were trying to upgrade the hospital for the last four years but could not do so due to shortage of funds.

He said that they had got an opportunity after the COVID-19 pandemic to upgrade the health facility, which was the third largest hospital of Karachi and catered to the poor patients of not only Karachi but the entire Sindh.

The mayor said they had started the coronavirus testing facility at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and people were being tested free of charge and without any discrimination.

"A laboratory is upgraded as well as ICUs and isolation wards are established, which is a big achievement, considering limited resources of the KMC," he remarked.

Akhtar added that he could proudly say that no local government in Pakistan except the KMC was testing COVID-19 patients. "This is a gift for the people of Karachi from the KMC. The PDMA and federal government assisted us and our teams succeeded," he said.

The mayor also thanked doctors, paramedics and other health workers who were combating the pandemic on the front line.