Lahore (GNP): Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz inaugurated Pakistan’s first Heart transplant centre at the Jinnah Institute of Cardiology on Friday, calling it a milestone moment for the country’s healthcare system and pushing back against the notion that quality treatment could only be accessed abroad.
Announcing the launch on social media, she described it as Punjab making history, not only in healthcare and service delivery, but in providing compassionate care to those who need it most.
The chief minister said the Punjab government would bear the full cost of heart transplant treatment for deserving patients, covering up to 50,000 dollars per procedure.
She added that by using Chinese technology, the government aims to bring the cost of a heart transplant down to around 10,000 dollars, allowing more patients to benefit from the facility. All heart transplant procedures at the institute, she confirmed, will be performed entirely free of cost.
The Jinnah Institute of Cardiology is a 250-bed, state-of-the-art facility built at a cost of sixteen billion rupees, located opposite the Jinnah Hospital residential area, and operates as an autonomous institute. The hospital has been equipped with modern cardiac care infrastructure, including a catheterization laboratory, MRI, modular operation theatres, cardiac wards, pathology and radiology laboratories, and dedicated intensive care and emergency departments.
During the inauguration, the chief minister praised UK-based cardiologist Dr Hasnat Khan for returning to Pakistan to serve patients, with Dr Khan confirming he would help train doctors and staff at the institute.
Speaking to doctors and nurses at the event, Maryam Nawaz urged them to treat their work as an act of patriotic service, telling ministers, bureaucrats, officers, and medical staff that fulfilling their responsibilities well would ultimately be its own reward.
She expressed satisfaction that the institute had already become fully functional, noting that angiography procedures had already been carried out there, and said the project had been a long-awaited personal goal.
The chief minister also acknowledged the contributions of the team behind the project, including Dr Azhar Kayani, Dr Farqad Alamgir, Dr Adnan Khan, Infrastructure Development Authority Punjab CEO Shah Mir Iqbal, Health Secretary Azmat Mahmood, and Secretary Nadia Saqib.
Separately, she announced that home dialysis machines would be introduced across Punjab, and highlighted the ongoing role of the Pakistan Institute of Cardiology, established by Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, in serving patients not only from Lahore but from Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well.
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Addressing comparisons often drawn between Pakistan and Western countries, the chief minister noted that Pakistan is only 79 years old and that some Western nations have populations smaller than a single locality in Lahore.
She said close to 100 million people visited public hospitals in the past year, with medicines, surgeries, and procedures provided free of cost and medicines delivered directly to patients’ homes. At the same time, she acknowledged persistent challenges within the public healthcare system, citing instances of medicine theft, staff misconduct, and deliberately damaged hospital equipment. She directed IDAP CEO Shah Mir Iqbal to expedite completion of the broader Medical District project to ensure patients continue receiving quality care.
Managing Editor at Global News Pakistan (GNP), with a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from Riphah International University, graduated with a Gold Medal. Reach out at sabahtareengnp@gmail.com
