KARACHI: Consisting of 18 fully equipped operation theatres, a 500-bed surgical complex was inaugurated by the Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) on Monday.

As many as 4,500 patients can be examined daily at the facility built through a public-private partnership. It would provide services free of cost.

Officials at the JPMC said the surgical complex was a federal government project and its groundbreaking was done in 2007. In 2015-2016, the government of Sindh collaborated with the Patients’ Aid Foundation.

The JPMC had 1,100 beds in 2011, which now has been increased to 2,200 in 2022.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, PPP chairman Bhutto-Zardari said that the PPP-led Sindh government had revolutionised the healthcare system in the province and efforts were being made to provide people with free-of-cost quality care across the province.

The idea of public-private partnership, he pointed out, was conceived and encouraged by former prime minister Benazir Bhutto while keeping in view the welfare of the masses in the manifesto of 1993 general elections.

“Apparently, there is an urgent need for the government to invest in the public healthcare sector. Nonetheless, the government alone can’t do everything and a lot of work can be done under public-private partnerships.”

Mr Bhutto-Zardari also spoke of the services being provided at the JPMC without any discrimination and said: “I am proud that the JPMC is catering to the needs of the people across the country. Every Pakistani who comes here is being treated with dignity, and they are not asked how much money they have. Nor are they asked about where they come from and what language they speak. The doors of the JPMC are open to every Pakistani.”

Bilawal says Sindh’s healthcare better than NHS

He claimed that the healthcare system of the province for children was much better than the world’s renowned and decades-old National Health Service (NHS) — the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK).

He also talked about the facilities being provided at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases and National Institute of Child Health (NICH). “The NICH is also an excellent example of the public-private partnership, which is providing free treatment facilities in partnership with the Child Life Foundation.”

“There is an impression across the country about the healthcare system in this province and mainly in rural areas for our children or our neonatal care,” he said. “But I am surprised that the free, quick and effective service is being provided here in partnership with Child Life Foundation and it is that level of service which you would not find from the NHS for the children in the UK. And this, I have witnessed personally.

He also lauded Dr Adib Rizvi for his excellent performance and said the Sindh government’s collaboration with Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplant (SIUT) had resulted in improvement not only for the people of Karachi, but also for the poor residing in remote areas.

Those present on the occasion were Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, health minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, Karachi Administrator Murtaza Wahab and others.

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2022