A team of cardiologists and management experts from the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) visited the Sindh Government Hospital in Korangi last week to learn about the available facilities for the establishment of a satellite centre so that heart patients could be treated near their homes. The team had been invited by the newly-appointed medical superintendent of the Sindh Government Hospital, Dr Khalid Bukhari, in view of a growing number of patients who are brought to the hospital’s emergency with heart attack and complaints of other cardiac ailments but who are referred to the NICVD due to a lack of any facility at the hospital to treat them. “Daily, dozens of people from different areas of Korangi, Landhi, Ibrahim Hyderi, Quaidabad and adjoining areas are brought to the SHG Korangi with complaints of heart trouble, but we don’t have any consultant cardiologist and trained staff to deal with cardiac emergency. These patients are dispatched to the NICVD but many of them die on the way to the hospital due to the long distance and traffic jams,” Dr Bukhari said. He said the Sindh Government Hospital catered to the medical needs of four million people and there was an urgent need for starting cardiac emergency at the hospital to save lives. “On my request, a team of NICVD experts visited the Korangi hospital to ascertain the requirements for starting a heart attack management facility and cardiac emergency centre. They were delighted to see the ICU and CCU established at the SGH Korangi. They said this facility could be transformed into a centre for performing angioplasties and other cardiac interventions.” The NICVD is in the process of establishing its satellite centres throughout the province so that people in different cities of the province could have the facility of angioplasty and angiography in their own cities. Thousands of people annually die in Sindh, including Karachi, because of heart attacks as they cannot reach any specialised heart facility, most of which are located in Karachi. “Karachi needs separate cardiac hospitals in every district of the city, whose population is more than that of many cities of Sindh and Punjab. But initially, there is a need for setting up cardiac emergency centres at public hospitals, which can later be upgraded to specialised heart treatment facilities,” Dr Bukhari added. He said that in addition to the Sindh government’s support, he would also approach the private sector and philanthropists to support the establishment of a cardiac treatment centre at the Korangi hospital because this task could be completed a lot earlier with generous support from the private sector. Dr Bukhari maintained that he was also trying to restore health facilities and diagnostic and radiological services which had been suspended at the hospital by the previous administration. Source: The News International (October 31, 2017)