LAHORE: A boy who secured a top position in the matriculation exams and was scheduled to leave for India on Tuesday (today) for a heart transplant passed away at his residence in Tajpura Bagh on Monday afternoon. Daniyal Tanvir was diagnosed with a congenital cardiac disease a year back. Tanvir’s father worked at a private pharmaceutical firm. Three days ago, the boy had expressed his desire to meet Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. Khan met him at his residence on Sunday while Shahbaz had yet to visit. His parents had been visiting the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) as well as private hospitals regarding his treatment, but with little hope. The family had eventually consulted a senior cardiac surgeon in Canada a couple of months ago and also dispatched Tanvir’s clinical reports. After reviewing the reports, the doctor had recommended him a heart transplant from India. Local doctors had informed the family the transplant facility was not available in any public and private health facility in Pakistan. The family then contacted Indian doctors and fixed an appointment. “Approximately Rs10 million was required for the heart transplant in New Delhi and we were unable to manage it due to financial constraints,” Tanvir’s father told the media. He lamented that this facility was not available in any public or private health facility in Pakistan and the family had appealed for donations through a TV channel. He said philanthropists and other people generously donated Rs3 million in a short time and he was expecting a major chunk from them before departing for India. Tanvir’s condition, however, got critical on Monday afternoon. He was immediately shifted to Shalimar Hospital where he could not survive. A source said the PIC had planned to provide heart transplant facility four years ago. He said the Punjab government had also provided a grant of Rs2.7 million to the PIC to establish a unit in this regard. However, the scheme could not be materialised due to lack of interest by the institute. The grant allocated for the purpose was utilised for some other purposes. An audit para also raised this mismanagement but the matter was hushed up, the source claimed, the source added. He said currently there were nine operation theatres at the PIC and all were equipped to perform heart transplants. “The PIC management had sent cardiac surgery Prof Dr Abdul Waheed and Associate Professor Dr Irfan Azmat abroad for training in heart transplant in 2011,” the source claimed. He further said funds were also generated for the purpose. However, not a single transplant had been performed at the PIC so far. Quoting a senior doctor, the source said six to eight out of every 100 patients at the PIC required a heart transplant. “We had discussed several times the provision of this facility at the institute but could not start it due to certain reasons,” Prof Waheed told Dawn. He said the transplant required huge funding and infrastructure, which was not available at the PIC. He denied going abroad for any training, saying neither he blamed the government nor the PIC management for not providing this critical facility. Adviser to Chief Minister on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique while talking to media on Monday clarified the government’s position, saying the chief minister was scheduled to meet Tanvir on Tuesday (today). He said the government had asked his parents to continue his treatment at the PIC but they refused saying they were preparing to go to India for the purpose. 786
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 16:28:53 +0000
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