KARACHI-Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Wednesday said that after the establishment of National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) units in different districts, he wants to establish units of Child Cancer Care (CCC)Centres at Sukkur and Hyderabad to give easy to the poor patients access to quality healthcare.
The Sindh chief minister was talking to a delegation of Child Aid Association (CAA) led by its President Dr Tariq Shafi at NICH where they have established a cancer centre. The chief minister’s visit was in connection with International Childhood Cancer Awareness Day being observed all over the world.
On the occasion, Murad Ali Shah was informed that since 1999, the CAA is running Child Care Centre at NICVD where 9,000 cancer patients [children] have been treated so far and 7,000 patients were registered with them for treatment. The chief minister said that he wanted to establish satellite centres of cancer care centre for children in Sukkur and Hyderabad for convenience of poor patients.
He urged PAA team, Dr Tariq Shafi, Prof Nizamul Hassan, Dr Salman Burney and others to prepare a detailed plan, including space for hospital, required equipment with their cost and annual operational expenditures so that the plan could be implemented.
The CAA office bearers told the chief minister that they were facing shortage of funds to run the centre at NICH. The rupee versus dollar depreciation have enhanced cost of treatment and now the treatment of a child takes more than Rs900,000 in a three years course.
The chief minister said that his government would financially support the cancer center. He directed secretary finance to release Rs50 million he had announced for Child Aid Association. “You are doing a real service to our ailing children of cancer, I am with you in your work,” he assured the Child Aid Association office bearers.
Talking to media just after his visit and meeting with Child Aid Association, the Murad said that the prices of medicine have escalated due to depreciation of rupee.
Therefore, the CAA needed financial support from the government and the philanthropists to continue their noble cause.
Replying to a question, the chief minister said that his government has filed a review petition in the Supreme Court for taking back the administration of NICH, NICVD and JPMC. “I had personally requested the prime minister when he had visited Karachi to allow Sindh government to keep the administration of these three hospitals, NICH, NICVD and JPMC,” he said.
Mr Shah said that he had worked a lot in the uplift of these three hospitals and have given them ample budget and “we feel we can operate them more efficiently,” he said.
He said that in order to commemorate International Childhood Cancer Awareness Day he visited the cancer ward and other facilities established by CAA at NICH. “They are doing good work and we would be supporting them,” he concluded.
