KARACHI: Equipment worth Rs13.2m for KIHD approved
KARACHI, Feb 18: The city nazim, Niamatullah Khan, on recommendations of the Karachi Institute of Heart Diseases' (KIHD) purchase committee on Friday approved the acquisition of medical equipment worth Rs13.2 million for the institute.
The committee comprised Prof Dr Abdul Samad, cardiologist Dr Abdul Haq, Prof Masood Javed and Jalal-ud-Din Saifi. It had recommended the purchase of 750 complete packages of angiography and 200 stants used in angioplasty.
According to a city govt official, it had been decided to purchase the medical equipment through open tender, adding that most probably the equipment would be imported.
"Import of medical equipment will help in saving 40 per cent of the amount allocated for the purpose since the federal government has exempted public sector hospitals from duty and other taxes on procuring medical equipment," he informed.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the city government said efforts were being made to start the out patient department (OPD) at the KIHD from Feb 28 since construction of the institute had almost been completed and necessary equipment and furniture purchased.
He demanded the Sindh government to allow recruitment of staff including doctors and paramedics so that inauguration of its OPD and emergency departments could be made possible.
The official maintained that the KIHD was the first hospital of heart diseases established by any city government in Pakistan besides being the first in Karachi in the last 56 years. The hospital was completed in record time with limited resources.
He deplored that no local or provincial government had made efforts for establishment of any such institute in Karachi in the past owing to which people of Karachi suffered and pressure on the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) increased manifold.
He expressed hope that with the KIHD's inauguration, pressure of heart patients on the NICVD would be decreased and heart patients would have a second option.
ALLEGATIONS REFUTED: A spokesman for the city government on Friday refuted allegations levelled by the provincial adviser on local bodies against the city nazim and said facts could not be changed by a propaganda drive.
In a statement, he said the character of the city nazim was like an open book for the citizens of Karachi and the whole country. He said even the adviser in an interview to a local weekly had admitted that the city nazim was an honest man.
The spokesman said the politically aware people of Karachi were now fed up with mudslinging and they wanted political forces to compete in the field of development works. He asked the adviser to announce the names of the contractors whom he termed the nazim's favourites.
He also asked the adviser to tell the people of Karachi why their government had ended the role of the Sindh Public Service Commission in the appointments of government employees from grades 11 to 15. The spokesman alleged that ministers of the present Sindh government wanted to distribute government jobs among their families and friends. -PPI
