Post-graduate Medical Institute (PGMI) Principal Prof. Dr. Sardar Muhammad Al-Freed Zafar Sunday said that the increasing rate of kidney diseases in Pakistan was a matter of grave concern.
He said there was great need for timely diagnosis, appropriate treatment and awareness among masses about the diseases.
He expressed these views while inspecting a state-of-the-art dialysis center at Lahore General Hospital (LGH). Prof. of Urology Dr. Khizar Hayat Gondal, MS Dr. Amir Ghafoor Mufti, Head of Department Nephrology Dr. Yasir Hussain, Dr. Shah Jahan, Dr. Abdul Aziz, Ashk Naz and others were also present.
Al-freed Zafar said that medical experts need to focus on effective strategies and medical research for prevention of kidney disease as dialysis was not a permanent cure for such patients.
Prof. Gondal, while briefing the principal, said that since January 2021 more than 17,000 dialysis have been done free-of-cost at LGH for which the Punjab government provided Rs 39.2 million while 36 machines were working for dialysis of the patients. He said separate dialysis machines had been set up for patients with hepatitis and infectious diseases. He said that on an average 60 to 70 dialysis were performed daily at LGH.
MS Dr. Amir Ghafoor Mufti said that in the private sector a dialysis costs Rs. 3,000 to 4,000 while as per directions of CM Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar and Health Minister Dr. Yasmeen Rashid dialysis were being performed without any charges at General Hospital.
