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       PESHAWAR: The Institute of Bone Marrow, Kidney and Liver Transplant will become operational at Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) within two months.

       “We have held a meeting with Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah, who has directed to expedite work on the project due to increasing number of patients in the province requiring organ transplants, especially liver, bone marrow and renal,” Amjad Ali Khan, focal person to chief minister on health, told Dawn.

       Work on the project has almost been completed and Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur will inaugurate the institute within two months.

       Dr Amjad, who is also MNA of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf from Swat, said that government had already approved Rs500 million and pledged more amount as per requirements to ensure provision of free kidney, liver and bone marrow transplant services to patients free of cost.

       Focal person says govt has already approved Rs500 million for it

       He said that organ transplants were expensive and common people couldn’t afford its expenses. He said that they were trying their level best to establish the institute as soon as possible.

       “Patients have been undergoing renal and liver transplants at a cost of Rs2 million and Rs6.2 million on Sehat Card Plus in private hospitals. They will be facilitated at the institute,” he said. It would not only save people from the high cost but also from going outside the province for transplants, he said.

       Dr Amjad said that establishment of facilitation centres at divisional level was also part of the programme to inform people about the services and scale up their awareness about the programme.

       “There is lack of awareness about organ donation and most people hesitated to give kidney or liver to their near and dear ones, therefore, we have started work to enact law to pave way for retrieval of organs from donors passing away at hospitals so that the same can be transplanted to needy patients,” he said.

       He said that ‘deceased donor programmes’ were going on in developing countries under which organs from deceased persons were retrieved and preserved at hospitals for donation to needy patients.

       The focal person to chief minister said that Human Organ Transplant Authority (Hota), which regulated transplants at national level, had the provision of organ donation from deceased persons provided they had consented donating organs in their lifetime.

       He said that family members of deceased could reject the consent due to which his/her organ could not be donated. “Once we start the process at provincial level then efforts will be made to do away with the clause of Hota at relevant forums,” he added.

       Dr Amjad said that in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, at least 4,500 people required renal transplants annually but due to lack of donation culture, patients suffered or opted for illegal transplants, which entailed a lot of complications. The institute would encourage legal transplants, he added.

       He said that in the first phase, renal and liver transplants would begin in the institute while in the second phase the institute would start bone marrow transplant services.

       “For this purpose, we are in touch with experts of renal, liver and bone marrow transplants at Gambat Liver Transplant Unit, Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation and Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute Punjab for their help in starting the institute,” he said.

       Dr Amjad said that initially, they planned to conduct on average 70 transplants per month for which the government had promised the required amount.

       “There are a lot of people with damaged kidneys, who are receiving dialysis that is not a treatment but patients can survive as long as they undergo dialysis. Transplant is the only treatment,” he said.

       Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2025