Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has inaugurated Pakistan’s first heart transplant centre at the Jinnah Institute of Cardiology.
The Maryam Nawaz Sharif Heart Transplant Centre has advanced medical equipment and will provide free heart transplant treatment to deserving patients.
In a social media statement, Maryam Nawaz described the facility as a “world-class” centre and said the Punjab government would cover the full treatment cost for eligible patients.
“Heart transplant procedures at the Jinnah Institute of Cardiology will be done 100 per cent free of cost. We have established Pakistan’s first-of-its-kind heart transplant centre,” she said.
Maryam Nawaz said heart transplants are expensive and the government could spend up to $50,000 on each transplant for deserving patients. However, she said the use of Chinese technology would bring the cost down to around $10,000, allowing more people to benefit from the facility.
During her visit, the chief minister inspected the heart transplant centre, angiography suite, diagnostic rooms, outpatient department and other sections.
She also reviewed the heart-lung machine, Tesla MRI and other advanced equipment installed in the modular operating theatre.
Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari said the Jinnah Institute of Cardiology had started operations and would provide heart transplant treatment completely free of charge.
Bukhari said the government established the new cardiac facility because of Lahore’s growing population and increasing pressure on the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC).
She said the government completed the project in a short time under Maryam Nawaz’s direction to meet the province’s growing healthcare needs.
The information minister also said Maryam Nawaz would soon inaugurate the Nawaz Sharif Cancer Hospital, which will have 1,000 beds.
She added that work on the Cardiology Hospital in Sargodha was also nearing completion, while government hospitals across Punjab continued to provide free treatment to patients from across the country.