Wahab inaugurates NICVD chest pain unit at Karachi Institute of Heart Diseases

Karachi Metropolitan Corporation Administrator Barrister Murtaza Wahab on Friday inaugurated the 22nd chest pain unit of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) at the Karachi Institute of Heart Diseases (KIHD) in District Central.

He expressed on the occasion the hope that the new chest pain unit would be upgraded to a fully fledged satellite centre of the NICVD in the days to come. “Establishment of the NICVD’s chest pain unit at the Karachi Institute of Heart Diseases in FB Area of the city was my dream and today it has been realised. From now onwards, dwellers of this area comprising Central and East districts would be benefitted from the services of the NICVD free of charge,” Wahab said as he inaugurated the chest pain unit.

The Karachi administrator said that soon, the chest pain unit at the KIHD would be converted into a satellite centre of the NICVD, having facilities of interventional cardiology and heart surgeries for people of all age groups.

“The NICVD is the hallmark of Sindh government’s services for people’s health in the province. People from entire Pakistan come to Karachi and other cities of Sindh to avail quality cardiac care services free of charge,” Wahab said, adding that people from abroad were also visiting the NICVD Karachi and Sukkur for heart treatment.

In his address, NICVD Executive Director Prof Nadeem Qamar informed the event that over 675,604 patients had been examined at the chest pain units over the last five years. Of them, 246,228 were cardiac patients and 14,331 people had suffered heart attacks whose lives were saved in time by the provision of proper medication.

“When a patient comes to our health facility, we ensure that each patient gets the required treatment. This is the most successful healthcare programme across the world, which has saved countless lives and helped thousands of people live a healthy life.”

Prof Qamar said that from a hospital, the NICVD had been transformed into a large network in a short span of five years. “Today, it has 10 fully fledged hospitals and 22 chest pain units in the province.”