KARACHI:Spokesperson of Sindh Government and Advisor for Law and Administrator Karachi Barrister Murtaza Wahab said on Monday that Chief Minister Sindh had convened a meeting of Corona Task Force on the current situation of Corona virus.
He expressed these views while addressing a press conference at Committee Room of Sindh Assembly Building here today. He said that the number of cases of coronavirus has increased rapidly and in the last 24 hours the rate of positive cases has increased from 6% whereas a month ago it was less than 1%. We do not want to take drastic measures at this time, so citizens should be careful. He appealed to the citizens that the most effective way to avoid Omicron is mask and vaccination. Ninety million people have so far been vaccinated in Sindh by combining the first and second doses.
He further added that the health card is a big scam and the government’s job is to run the hospital efficiently, bringing this health card is proof that PTI has not been able to fix the public sector hospitals. Now they are telling them that the government cannot do anything. You should turn to private hospitals. You have come up with a new way to transfer public funds to the private sector. I ask why people would turn to private hospitals if they are spending money on government hospitals but your interest is to reward their ATMs. He said that the situation is still under control. The government does not want to make tough decisions. If you take care of SOPs in social events, you will be able to deal with this epidemic more efficiently.
We must also play our part as citizens. He said that people in the federal government are alleging that Sindh is not issuing health cards because citizens are being treated for free in our hospitals. People from all over Pakistan come here for treatment. Issuing health cards is a confession that they cannot run government hospitals. Presenting the figures in a press conference, the Sindh government Spokesperson added that NICVD treated more than 1.8 million patients free of cost in a single year. In Karachi alone, 900,000 patients received absolutely free treatment. Ninety thousand patients were treated in NICVD Hyderabad and one hundred and ninety seven thousand in Sukkur. 27,000 patients were treated free of cost in NICVD Mithi Tharparkar and 39,000 in Khairpur.
Criticizing the federal government, he said that if you had fixed your hospitals, this would not be the case today. These patients are not coming to Sindh from all over the country. The Gambat Institute is given Rs 4.5 billion annually by the Sindh government and the PPP is proud to say that free cornea, kidney and liver transplants are being done here. “Earlier people used to go to India for liver transplantation. Five hundred and fifty liver transplants have been performed in Sindh so far. The cost per patient is Rs. 4 million. We enable our hospitals to provide treatment in Sindh. Of these, 52% belonged to Sindh and the remaining 48% belonged to other provinces.
The Sindh government proudly says that we are not in the federation but serve the whole of Pakistan. In the year 2021, more than five thousand patients from Azad Kashmir came to NICVD and received free treatment. More than 125,000 patients came to Sindh from Balochistan. More than 8,000 patients from KPK turned to Sindh. More than 51,000 patients came from Punjab who were treated free of cost. 140 people underwent kidney transplant at Gambit Institute. One hundred and twelve people were treated for cornea. The Bone Marrow was inaugurated in Dow, and is now available in Gambit.
In 2021, 11 people underwent bone marrow transplant. Cyberknife cost 50,000 to 90 90,000 worldwide, and is available free of charge at Jinnah Hospital in Karachi. So far, 14,882 patients have received free cyber knife treatment. More than 200 cancer patients have been treated with homeopathy. Radiation treatment is provided free of cost to 140 cancer patients daily. Patients from 163 cities of Pakistan came to Sindh for treatment, patients came here from 15 countries” he concluded.