Dow starts free liver transplants after receiving Rs145m govt grant

The Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) Karachi has started performing free liver transplants of underprivileged patients after receiving a grant of Rs145 million from the Sindh government to conduct some 50 surgeries, officials said on Saturday.

“We have started performing free-of-charge liver transplant surgeries of needy and deserving patients who couldn’t afford this costly procedure after the Sindh government provided us with Rs145 million to conduct around 50 transplants on the provincial government’s expense,” DUHS Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Saeed Quraishy told The News.

Gastroenterologist Dr Saad Khalid Niaz played a key role in persuading the provincial government to provide the funds to the university for performing free liver transplants, government officials said, adding that they are providing funds to the DUHS for liver as well as bone marrow transplants.

Dr Quraishy said that around 50 liver transplants have been performed at the university under the supervision of liver transplant surgeon Dr Faisal Saud Dar, who heads the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute & Research Institute Lahore.

“In addition to 50 liver transplants, our BMT [bone marrow transplant] surgeons have performed 24 or 25 bone marrow transplants, for which funds were provided by the provincial government.”

He said the university also bears the expenses of treatment of those patients who could not afford costly surgeries and treatment at its state-of-the-art hospital.

The VC said that in addition to liver and bone marrow transplant surgeries, surgeons at the university had performed nearly 500 renal transplants, adding that the expenses of some of these surgeries were also borne by the provincial government. The DUHS had resumed its liver transplant programme in 2019 when it had approached Pakistan’s leading liver transplant surgeon Dr Dar to supervise the complicated surgeries. So far 17 liver transplants have been carried out by surgeons at the Ojha campus of the university.

Dr Quraishy noted that the success rate of liver transplant surgeries at the DUHS was over 95 per cent, saying that under the supervision of Dr Dar, their team had even performed the country’s first liver autotransplant, adding that the patient had been living a normal life since the procedure. “Our team of liver transplant surgeons comprises lead surgeon Dr Jahanzeb Haider, Dr Kiran Naz, Dr Muhammad Iqbal and three others. This is a highly trained and skilled team of youngsters who are performing liver transplant surgeries with the utmost sophistication.”

The VC said they had already been performing liver transplants at highly subsidised rates, but most of the patients approaching them for the surgeries could not afford the costly treatment. He added that following the provincial government’s support, the most deserving patients would be able to avail the treatment.

Replying to a query, he said that a liver transplant surgery costs between Rs3 million and Rs4 million if the procedure goes without any complication. He added that with the help of the Rs145 million, they would hopefully be able to perform up to 50 liver transplants by June next year. An official of the health department said that according to the laid down criteria, the department would send patients to the DUHS for liver transplants after a thorough assessment through medical boards. The official said that currently, only the Gambat Institute of Medical Sciences in Khairpur is performing free liver transplant surgeries, but after the provision of Rs145 million to the DUHS, two institutes in Sindh will be conducting free liver transplant surgeries.

Dr Niaz, coordinator for the Liver Transplant Unit and member of the DUHS Syndicate, expressed gratitude to the chief minister for the provision of Rs145 million to the university. He said he had personally requested the CM to provide the money so that free liver transplant surgeries could be performed for the needy and deserving patients.

“Around 8,000 patients need liver transplant surgeries due to liver failure or liver cancer annually in Pakistan. Most of these patients can’t afford the costly treatment. Because of the Sindh government’s programme, patients can now avail the facility of liver transplants free of charge in Karachi too.”