KARACHI: Rich tributes were paid to Dr Ali Jaffer Naqvi at a memorial organised by the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) remembering the late doctor as one of the leading physicians and nephrologists.

Dr Naqvi, who was fondly considered the father of nephrology, had passed away recently.

Renowned doctors and medical experts from various parts of the world took part in the memorial along with their Pakistani counterparts to pay homage to the late professional.

The proceedings began with his daughter, who is a senior nephrologist from Chicago. His colleagues, friends and family members remembered when he returned to Pakistan after working for 11 years in the United Kingdom and United States as the first nephrologist and started here the Nephrology Ward 22 at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre in 1970s. He started the ward with only two dialysis machines that he brought with him from the US.

SIUT director Prof Dr Adib Rizvi also paid glowing tributes to his senior colleague and said he was instrumental in his career building. He remembered him as the founder of the specialised field of nephrology in Pakistani medical institutions, which has greatly contributed towards the betterment of the healthcare system.

Dr Naqvi had served as the provincial and central councillor of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) for some two decades and staunchly supported the Health for All cause.

He laid the foundations of Kidney Centre in 1985 and later started a 150-bed Kidney Foundation Nephrology Hospital near Karachi University.

He trained many nephrologists in his lifetime and was appointed Professor Emeritus at the SIUT.

At his death, he was still the patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Society of Nephrology.

Speakers pointed out that due to his incomparable dedication and unrelenting determination, Dr Naqvi established the first registry of dialysis patients in the country that has completed 14 year of its existence. Dialysis registry plays a crucial role in the treatment of patients of the end stage renal disease.

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2022