KARACHI: The first state-of-the-art and free-of-cost robotic surgery unit, the Centre of Excellence in Robotic Surgery and Training of Pakistan, was inaugurated at the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Saturday.

SIUT Director Prof Dr Adib Rizvi said the centre was the first free facility in the region.

Speaking at the ceremony, the chief minister said the establishment of this robotic surgery centre was a historic occasion.

The robotic-assisted surgery is the top innovation in the field with its ability to perform fine and precise actions under the command of a human surgeon.

“The small spaces in the body where the surgeon’s hands cannot reach, and eyes can’t see are easily approached by the robotic arms,” Mr Shah said. “The benefits of robotic surgery will be overarching the fields of urology, colorectal, hepatobiliary, foregut surgery and gynaecological surgery.”

Sindh govt, philanthropist Bashir Dawood and SIUT-North America contribute to set up the free-of-cost treatment facility

Tracing the history of robotic surgery at SIUT, Mr Shah said that the first robot was acquired by the provincial government in 2017 from Intuitive Surgical Company, US, The da Vinci System.

“The system was used both by the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital and SIUT and later the robot was moved to a dedicated robotic surgery unit in SIUT,” he said, adding that in order to establish a robotic surgical centre, a fund was established where the initial seed money was given by the Sindh government and other main contributors were philanthropist Bashir Dawood and SIUT North America.

The CM said that recently two robotic surgery units were acquired by SIUT from Cambridge Medical Robotics. “These are currently used by many centres in Europe, Middle East, India and Latin America,” he said.

He said that the robotic surgery was considered the future generation of surgical sciences.

“The robotic procedures are associated with less pain, less blood loss, and faster recovery,” he said and added: “Patients are discharged within a few days and can resume their regular activities”.

The CM said that Prof Adib Rizvi told him that the unit had started with urological surgeries to be followed by colorectal and gynaecological surgeries.

He said he had been informed that so far more than 1,000 robotic surgeries had been performed at the department.

The CM complimented Prof Rizvi for the great work and said the SIUT was an excellent example of public-private partnership.

Earlier, the chief minister visited the robotic surgery unit and watched the surgery procedure from control room.

He congratulated Prof Adib Rizvi for establishing the world class robotic surgery unit. Dr Rizvi also thanked the chief minister for his support and cooperation.

Criticism at federal govt

Replying to a question about performance-based certification of federal ministers by the prime minister, Mr Shah said that it had proved to be a big political drama.

“The minister who has attained number one position has failed to construct a road from Jamshoro to Sehwan in Rs14 billion, though the Sindh government had paid its share of Rs7bn in 2017. As a result, hundreds of people have died in road accidents there. This is the performance of the number one minister,” he said.

Mr Shah said that another minister who had been placed at number 11 in the so-called performance list had written a letter to the prime minister complaining against making him a ‘minion’.

“This is a comedy drama the PM has staged where all its characters will make themselves a laughing stock,” he added.

Mr Shah said that a vote of no confidence would be tabled in the national and provincial assemblies against the federal government.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2022