LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government seems to be indifferent towards the multi-billion healthcare initiative taken by the last Shehbaz Sharif government – the Pakistan Kidney & Liver Institute (PKLI) – as an official report reveals that institute had been spending more on the salaries and perks of its 1,286 employees as compared to the patients.

According to the report, only seven liver transplants have been performed at the PKLI since March 2019 to Sept 2020, while the institute has spent Rs2,639 million under various heads during financial year 2019-20.

Interestingly, it says that a major chunk of the hefty funds - Rs1,566 million - was spent on salaries and other perks and privileges of the institute’s employees during the period.

According to the report, the PKLI performed only 87 kidney transplants during the last two years, while the institute’s operational expenses doubled during the same period as compared to the cost incurred during FY 2019-20.

On the other hand, the Shaikh Zayed Hospital (SZH) Lahore, which was facing an acute shortage of funds, carried out over 150 kidney transplants during the last two years.

Surprisingly, the number of surgeries performed at the SZH urology department was double as compare to that of done at the PKLI, initially a Rs16 billion project, aimed at providing healthcare facilities to the kidney and liver patients only.

It shows that the mega health project had become a white elephant instead of being a patient-friendly health facility.

The PKLI was established at the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Lahore by the previous Punjab government. It was dragged into a controversy when a campaign was launched against the founding head of the PKLI Prof Dr Saeed Akhtar, who later left it after the PTI government took charge in November 2018. The then chief justice of Pakistan justice Saqib Nisar had also grilled Dr Akhtar in the matter.

Senior kidney and liver experts had stressed the need to establish the facility following reports that 40 percent of all the diseases being reported in the country were linked to kidney, bladder and urinary tract or liver malfunction. It was envisaged as a facility where treatment would be available to such patients under one roof.

According to the original scheme, the PKLI was to be established on a piece of 60-acre land in the Lahore Knowledge City, having 800 beds (extendable to 1,500 beds), a 100-bed emergency centre, a 100-bed ICU, 100-bed outpatient dialysis facility, 500-bed in-patient facility and 20 operating rooms.

However, most of the project was yet to be completed, while various health services could also not be provided to the patients.

Submitted in the Punjab Assembly by the Punjab health minister recently, the report reveals that the PKLI has been spending more funds on other heads than on the poor and needy patients.

As per the the report, during the financial year 2019-20, Rs277m were spent on medicines and treatment of patients, Rs13m on rent of the buildings and taxes, Rs14m on advertisements, Rs35m on transportation, Rs23m on insurance, Rs85m on utility services, Rs20m on stationery and Rs116m were used under miscellaneous heads.

All the seven liver transplant procedures done at the PKLI were carried out with the Punjab government funds, the report states, adding that out of the total 87 kidney transplants at the institute, 69 were funded by the government.

The report stated that the PKLI started functioning at the under-construction building in Dec 2017. From Dec 2017 to June 2020, a total amount of Rs19,956m has been spent on various services at the institute, it states.

A large number of kidney and liver patients had to suffer a great deal of inconvenience when the PKLI shut down all its services, except for those meant for Covid patients.

“The PKLI remained closed for all kinds of healthcare services to the patients except for Covid-19 from March 15 to Aug 31,” reads the report.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2020