KARACHI: The ground-breaking ceremony of a 235-bed children hospital for urology, nephrology, transplantation and cardiology was performed by renowned transplant surgeon and Turkish parliamentarian Mehmet Haberal near the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation complex on Friday.

The SIUT hospital for paediatric urology and cardiology would cater to children in need of specialised treatment, SIUT officials said.

The hospital would be built on an over 3,000-square-foot plot at a cost of over Rs2 billion and was expected to complete within two years, they added.

“The children hospital is very important not just for the country but for the entire world and SIUT has done a wonderful job to do this — another feather in its cap,” said Prof Haberal after performing the ground-breaking ritual.

A self-effacing and modest individual who was elected a member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey from behind bars in 2011 for opposing the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Prof Haberal is the pioneer in the fields of transplantation and burn treatment in Turkey and is renowned in the international medical fraternity.

He is the founder and president of the Turkish transplantation society, the Turkish burn and fire disaster society, the Middle East burn and fire disaster society and the founder president of the Middle East society for organ transplantation.

He founded the board of directors of the world academy of medical, biomedical and ethical sciences in 2012.

“I am overwhelmed by the activities of the SIUT. Their activities are not less than a miracle and I have offered them that whatever they need from me I will be there to help them,” he said later.

An official of the SIUT described SIUT director Prof Adibul Hasan Rizvi and Prof Haberal as two ‘rebels’ who fought for the good of their people in their countries and both were wonderful professionals.

Dr Philip Ransley, a paediatric urologist from the UK, who helped in the establishment of a paediatric urology unit in the SIUT, said the children hospital was the need of the hour as Pakistan reported six million births every year while there was no such facility in the country.

Prof Rizvi said a majority of children were suffering in the country because of poverty and they were being denied their basic human right of health and education. “In such an atmosphere, it has been SIUT philosophy to provide free health facilities with dignity to everyone without discrimination of creed, caste, colour, language and religion,” he said.

In the field of education, Dr Rizvi said, the SIUT had started the Zainul Abedin Institute of Medical Technology, where everyone could get admission on merit for free.

Appreciating the efforts of Prof Haberal, he said he was a friend of the SIUT and Pakistan and always had generously helped them in their difficult times.

The media was informed that the 13-storey building of the children hospital would have different zones. The public zone would consist of accidents and emergency, outpatient and diagnostic imaging departments, while the semi-public zones include renal dialysis unit, wards, operating theatres and other related facilities.

Supportive paediatric environment has also been ensured in the proposed hospital building with bright and colourful interior to make the stay of children comfortable and friendly.

The building’s top floor would accommodate academic activities, including seminar rooms and a day-care centre. The cardiac department with regular emergency and wards would have complete invasive and non-invasive facilities.

“On completion, the hospital will be yet another landmark to the SIUT network of specialised medical care based on the philosophy that promises to serve every individual with utmost respect, compassion, dignity and free of cost,” said Dr Rizvi.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2015

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