Islamabad - Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, while taking a suo motu notice of alleged closure of the Bone Marrow Transplant Centre at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, sought a report from the Capital Administration and Development Division within three days in this connection.
According to a statement issued by the Supreme Court’s spokesperson, the notice has been taken on the plea of parents seeking thalassaemia treatment of their children at the centre.
They parents had pleaded that the bone marrow transplant centre at PIMS is the only government’s centre where children with Thalassaemia are being cured, adding around 500 children are on the waiting list for transplants.
The statement also added that doctors, nurses and staff at the centre have not been paid their salaries since July 2017 and they have now been told that their contracts would not be extended owing to administrative issues.
The parents also said that transplant at a private hospital costs around Rs3 million whereas it costs Rs1m at the PIMS of which Rs0.6 million are donated by the Pakistan Baitul Mal.
The application also asserted that there is an apprehension of closure of the Cardiac Centre while the liver transplant unit at the PIMS has already been closed and the same is apparently done for the benefit of private hospitals that are charging more than the average citizen can afford.
Earlier, negligence on part of the Ministry of CADD led to the closure of Outdoor Patient Department of BMTC. Italian Funded project established in 2010 was handed over to the CADD in 2016 and since then the future of the project is hanging in balance.
An official said that nearly 500 Thalassemia patients are in line for their healthcare to begin while CADD and hospital administration have put the future of the facility at stake.
Nearly six families had signed a petition for continuity of the facility and pleaded before the CJP to take notice of the closure of the facility where their children are under treatment.
Names of the parents are Mohammad Irfan, Gulnaz Bibi, Jamal Khan, Irfan and Samiullah. Thalassemia is a common disease in Pakistan caused by inter-family marriages.