LAHORE: Punjab’s free kidney and liver transplant programme will be launched soon, Provincial Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique announced during a visit to the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI) Rawalpindi, according to an official statement issued by the Health Department.
The minister visited the institute on the directive of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif. He toured various departments of the hospital in detail, reviewed the health facilities being provided, and spoke directly with patients who had come for treatment to ask about the quality of care available to them.
A meeting was later held at PKLI Rawalpindi under the chairmanship of the health minister. He was given a briefing on the institution’s performance, the health facilities on offer and its administrative affairs.
Speaking on the occasion, Khawaja Salman Rafique said two liver transplants had been carried out at PKLI Rawalpindi, terming it a major achievement and congratulating the medical team involved. He said the free kidney and liver transplant facility approved by the Chief Minister would begin shortly.
“Provision of world-class quality medical facilities is the foremost priority of the Punjab government,” the minister said, adding that patients suffering from kidney and liver ailments were being provided modern healthcare at the Rawalpindi facility.
The minister noted that the hospital draws patients not only from Punjab but also from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the northern areas and Kashmir. He said practical steps had been taken to provide quality health facilities in Punjab, and that people arriving from other provinces also acknowledged the measures taken by the provincial government.
Organ transplantation remains among the most expensive categories of treatment available in Pakistan, and end-stage kidney and liver disease impose recurring costs — dialysis, immunosuppressant medication and long-term follow-up — that place them beyond the reach of most low-income households. A publicly funded transplant programme, if delivered at scale, would remove the single largest financial barrier faced by these patients.
The Rawalpindi campus of PKLI also carries a regional load. Because it serves patients travelling from the north and from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, its capacity has implications well beyond the provincial boundary — a point the health minister underlined during his visit.
No date has yet been announced for the formal launch of the free transplant programme, nor have details been released on eligibility criteria, patient volumes or the referral mechanism through which candidates will be selected. Those details, along with the availability of trained transplant teams and post-operative care capacity, will determine how quickly the announcement translates into treatment for patients on waiting lists.
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