KARACHI, Jan 25: A 50-bed kidney centre established by the Workers Welfare Fund for the workers secured under various social and welfare schemes will go operational in March.

The project had been launched by the federal government in 1998-99 under its welfare package for workers but could not be made functional due to bureaucratic lethargies and uneven flow of funds. Sources privy to the health project said that it was now almost ready to go operational.

About nine years back, the government had tasked the Fund to establish kidney centres in Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta and Karachi by June 2000. However, it took the WWF about five years to complete the single-storey building, located near the District Jail, Landhi.

The health facilities proposed to be offered free of cost to the workers secured by the Sindh Employees’ Social Security Institution (Sessi) or other welfare institutions include diagnosis, dialysis, surgery, lithotripsy, intensive care and laboratory tests.

At present, machinery and equipment are being procured and installed whereas hiring of experts and technical staff would be finalised by the end of February.

It is likely that about 40-50 patients will be given renal dialysis treatment every day, added the source. The estimated annual expenditure to run the kidney centre has been put at Rs75-85 million.

In the second phase of the project, more equipment would be procured and the diagnostic laboratories and imaging facilities would be upgraded to provide treatment to the patients other than those inflicted with kidney-related diseases, it was learnt.Director of the kidney centre project, Dr Abdul Haseeb Qureshi said that the project had great employment opportunities while the vacancies for consultants in nephrology, urology, radiology, pathology & anaesthesiology, RMOs, MS, technicians, nurses and other staff had already been advertised.

He said that 80 per cent of the machinery and equipment had been delivered to the centre.

In reply to a question, he said that the WWF had released Rs150 million for the procurement of machinery and equipment, but the process had hit a delay of 4-6 months due to higher rates quoted by bidders during the tendering process.