KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has approved an additional fund of Rs 520 million for setting up a pediatric cardiac unit at the National Institute of Cardiovascular.
The chief minister gave this approval while presiding over the 82nd governing body meeting of NICVD. The meeting was held at the Chief Minister House in which Health Minister Dr. Ezra Pechuho, Mayor Karachi Murtaza Wahab, Members of Assembly Sadia Javed, Rukhsana Parveen, Secretary Finance Fayyaz Jatoi, Secretary to the Chief Minister Rahim Sheikh, Secretary Health Rehan Baloch, Executive Director NICVD Dr. Abdul Rasheed and others participated.
The governing body, considering the adolescent patient load, decided that two floors of the new building would be functionalized for pediatric cardiac treatment. The chief minister gave an additional sanction of Rs 520 million to make the two floors operational.
The governing body was also informed that procurement of MRI machines for Rs 628.3 million was approved during the current financial year 2023-2024 to facilitate the stroke intervention program.
The Executive Director of NICVD suggested to the Chief Minister that the grant-in-aid/budget could be increased for the year 2024-2025. On this, the Chief Minister directed Health Minister Dr. Ezra Pechuho and Finance Secretary Fayyaz Jatoi to review the need for NICVD and send their recommendations to them for its approval.
The Board also approved the appointment of Dr. Tahir Sagheer as the Executive Director of NICVD.
