HYDERABAD, Feb 21 (APP): The Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine (PSIM) has announced that it will establish a charity polyclinic in Lahore where leading health consultants will provide free healthcare services to the poor people. PSIM’s President and Vice Chancellor of University of Health Sciences (UHS), Lahore, Prof Dr Javed Akram announced this at a symposium organized by the society’s Hyderabad chapter here on Sunday.
“The doctors should do something for the poor people who can’t afford to pay Rs.3,000 or Rs.5,000 consultation fee at our private clinics,” he said. He expressed hope that the leading consultants will provide 10 percent to 15 percent of their clinic time at that facility. “I will myself sit there once in a week,” he assured.
He apprised that a building had already been purchased at the price of more than Rs350 million in Lahore to establish that facility. According to him, the polyclinic would operate under the auspices of PSIM Foundation which was headed by Prof Sajid Obaidullah as its chairman.
“Our purpose is to provide totally cashless health services to the people who can’t afford to pay for expensive healthcare,” he underlined.
He observed that the medical societies in Pakistan by taking part in that initiative would be fulfilling their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
“We are giving a new avenue, a new shape to the medical societies by invoking the CSR,” he said. “This will also help a big deal to change and improve the perception about the doctors,” he added.
Dr Akram informed that the facility would be inaugurated in the month of Ramadan in the ongoing year. He also asked the PSIM Hyderabad chapter, especially VC Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS), Jamshoro, Prof Dr Bikha Ram Devrajani, to initiate a similar facility by Ramazan next year in the district. Dr Devrajani apprised that they would soon establish a dialysis center at the Red Crescent General Hospital in Latifabad from the foundation’s platform.
He announced that a charity hospital on 20 acres of land on Tando Muhammad Khan road would also be established as a foundation’s initiative. According to him, the land for the hospital would be provided by Hyderabad Development Authority (HDA). He assured that the PSIM Foundation’s initiatives will be activated in Hyderabad well ahead of next Ramazan. He said LUMHS was already providing charity healthcare in some districts of Sindh. Devrajani said LUMHS was set to acquire administrative control of 5 government hospitals in Hyderabad and Jamshoro districts.
The UHS Lahore was considering affiliation of Gambat Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS), Khairpur district, with the university, Dr Akram informed that a 13-member team of UHS inspected GIMS in Khairpur district on February 20. He told that a meeting of the UHS syndicate, which was scheduled after some weeks would take a decision in that regard.
“As an inspector of the team we found the institute to be of very good standard, rather excellent,” he noted. He said GIMS was offering liver, kidney and bone marrow transplants but as per the Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) requirement the institute was unable to meet the standard of providing academic degrees to the trainees.
According to him, the UHS was offering five programs of liver transplant and the trainee doctors at GIMS would be offered MS hepatobiliary, surgery and transplant. He said another MD level-4 program would be started from the next year while a PhD program would also be launched at GIMS after the affiliation. The GIMS will be the first health facility in Sindh which will become affiliated with UHS, Lahore, he added. On the occasion, the UHS and LUMHS signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), which would last for 3 years, for collaboration in training, research and evaluation and the two vice chancellors signed the document.
Their intended areas of cooperation include exchange of academics and administrative staff, collaboration in capacity building, joint research and development projects, joint publications, education programs, workshops and training and exchange of students. During the day long symposium the health experts delivered lectures on the topics including telemedicine and artificial intelligence; dengue, a continuing global threat, COVID-19 coagulation, asthma beyond control; sexual health of women with chronic diseases; stroke treatment; CA liver, the looming death; liver transplant, a patient’s experience and challenges of diabetes healthcare.
The LUMHS VC Dr Devrajani told that more than 2,000 doctors attended the symposium online in addition to those present at the venue.
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