KARACHI: Senior officials representing the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) on Wednesday sought immediate financial assistance of Rs3.5 billion from the Sindh government to help cover the operational shortfalls that have occurred due to rising administrative and service costs.

The 84th governing body meeting of the NICVD was presided over by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah at CM House. The attendees included health minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab, MPA Rukhsana Parveen, Sadia Javed, Finance Secretary Fayaz Jatoi, Health Secretary Rehan Baloch and Mushtaq Chhapra.

The meeting took several decisions to safeguard the institute’s future and expand its life-saving services, focusing on budget enhancements and infrastructure development, among other matters.

The CM directed officials to finalise appointment of a firm to develop a comprehensive business plan for the merger and administrative streamlining of NICVD and Sindh Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases.

The meeting decided to resolve all legal ambiguities to ensure that the institution continued to serve the public without hindrance.

The governing body approved the recruitment of a full-time chief operating officer and a chief financial officer through a competitive, open-market process. The chief minister directed the health department to establish rules before beginning the recruitment.

The meeting was briefed on the urgent need for an additional Rs3.5bn grant for current fiscal year (2025-2026) to cover operational shortfalls. It was noted that Rs10bn was approved by the chief minister, yet the institute faced a total funding deficit of approximately Rs4.6bn due to rising administrative and service costs.

The chief minister constituted a committee under Finance Secretary Jatoi to examine the NICVD’s business model and suggest reforms. The committee was asked to prepare a report to address institute’s financial problems.

Executive Director Prof Tahir Saghir provided an extensive briefing on NICVD’s progress in 2025 during which, he said, a total of 9,925 primary angioplasties were performed.

The institute, he said, also saw over 200 Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) procedures free of charge, a service costing roughly Rs4 million in private hospitals.

The NICVD also extended its paediatric cardiac services into Balochistan, performing over 100 surgeries and 300 interventions for children.

The dedicated Stroke Intervention Programme completed over 450 procedures, saving countless lives from permanent neurological damage.

Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2026