ISLAMABAD, April 2: Pakistan Society of Nephrology (PSN) on Wednesday asked the government to revive the national dialysis treatment scheme (NDTS) which was introduced by the Nawaz Sharif government.

The society president, Dr Sameeh J. Khan, told reporters that previously, around 6,000 to 7,000 patients were registered under the scheme, which was later abandoned by the Musharraf government.

He said the number of patients had reduced to 1,700 meaning that the remaining 4,300 were not getting proper treatment since they could not afford the expensive treatment.

Prof Khawaja Saeed, Dr Ghayasuddin Butt and Dr Imtiaz Masroor were also present on the occasion.

Dr Khan the Kidney Centre should be shifted to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) which had the infrastructure and skill to treat the kidney patients.

He said the building of the centre in sector H-8 was lying abandoned for the last many years.

The patient had to bear the cost of Rs115,000 during the first year for dialysis and it was very difficult for a common person to meet it.