Saturday, May 17, 2008, Jamadi-ul-Awwal 10, 1429    

Minar offers free medicare to poor cancer patients

Multan— Multan Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Radiotherapy (Minar) is offering free medical treatment to those poor patients of cancer who are recipients of Zakat. Dr Durre Sabih, director of the institute said on Friday. “At the moment, the institute maintains a balance of Rs 500,000 in Zakat Fund which will be utilised for provision of free medicines to cancer patients”, he said, adding,that Minar’s annual grant from Zakat Fund is around Rs 3 million.
He said this amount is transparently spent for the treatment of those patients who are poor,destitute and deserve financial assistance from Zakat Fund or Baitul Maal. He said the institute has started a free thalassaemia test program for women in family way. With the help of this test it can be ascertained whether a woman’s baby in her womb is suffering from thalassaemia, a sort of blood cancer or not. Dr Durr-e-Sabih said that the facility has been launched in collaboration with National Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (Nibge) Faisalabad. He said that those women who have at least 13 weeks of pregnancy should contact the Minar for free thalassaemia diagnostic test. Dr Sabih said those women whose children are already suffering from thalassaemia must benefit from this facility which costs them nothing except a visit to the Minar, situated at Nishtar Hospital.
This test is called CVS—chorionic villous sampling test. Minar is one of the 13 premier institutes, which offers sophisticated test and treatment facilities to cancer patients all over the country, and are being run by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC). —APP