KARACHI: As part of its plan to develop Gambat as a medical city, the Sindh government approved a project on Tuesday to establish a unit for cell and gene therapy and a biomedical engineering college at the Gambat Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS).

The decision to this effect was taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and attended by Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho, Univer­sities and Boards Mini­ster Ismail Rahoo, Parlia­mentary Health Secretary Qasim Soomro, Secretary-Colleges Ahmad Bux Narejo, NED University Vice Chancellor Prof Sarosh Lodi and the director of the Gambat Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS).

Dr Shahzad Sarwar of GIMS pres­ented a comprehensive pres­en­tation on cell and gene therapy, describing the treatment as an emerging development in the healthcare.

“It involves the use of cells and genes to treat and cure diseases. Cell therapy is the transplantation of human cells to replace or repair damaged tissue and/or cells. Some of the cells that may be used include various types of stem cells, lymphocytes, dendritic cells and pancreatic islet cells,” he explained.

Asks authorities to expedite measures to establish Gambat as first-ever medical city in province

The human gene therapy aims to modify or manipulate the expression of a gene or to alter the pathological process to treat a disease, he said, adding: “It can work by editing-replacing the disease-causing gene with a healthy one; silencing-inactivating a disease-causing gene that is not functioning properly and addition-introducing a new or modified gene into the body to help treat a disease.”

‘Medical tourist destination’

The meeting also decided that the land along both embankments of Rohri Canal at Gamabt would be utilised to establish different health facilities for long-term care and primary health care to turn Gambat, a big town in the Khairpur district, into a medical tourist destination.

The chief minister directed the works secretary to prepare a feasibility report to construct a flyover connecting the National Highway with Gambat Health City and plan to connect the Rohri Canal embankments through a bridge.

He asked Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput to hire a consultant for the establishment of Gambat as a health city.

“I want to speed up measures to establish Gambat as the first-ever medical city in the province by establishing all health facilities along the banks of Rohri Canal,” the chief minister said.

He added that a liver transplantation unit was operating successfully at GIMS and over 700 transplant procedures had been carried out there so far.

CM Shah also referred to PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s recent inauguration of a lung transplant unit at GIMS, also equipped with a burns unit.

During the meeting, the chief minister directed both Vice Chancellor of NED University and GIMS director to sit together and prepare a plan to establish a biomedical engineering college in Gambat.

Last year, GIMS Director Dr Rahim Bux Bhatti had proposed establishment of a cell and gene therapy unit at GIMS and the chief minister had announced making Gambat a medical city in his budget speech.

Published in Dawn, April 12th, 2023