KARACHI     -         Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari inaugurated on Tuesday a new OPD complex, comprising four blocks and constructed at a cost of Rs500 million, at the Ojha Campus of Dow University of Health Sciences. He also performed the groundbreaking ceremony of the Oncology Unit Foundation and planted a tree. While addressing a program organised to celebrate 75 liver transplants by Dow University at its Ojha Campus, the minister extended congratulations and best wishes to the varsity on the successful establishment of liver transplant services in the city. “We can strengthen our healthcare system and improve the delivery of healthcare by joining hands with well-trained human resources; the upbringing of the healthcare system and its successful conveyance to the common man has always been our priority,” said Bilawal. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said his government firmly believed that affordable and high-quality healthcare was a fundamental privilege of every citizen. “It is not only ethically and socially imperative but also a necessary ingredient for the sustainable long-term development of our economies and society.” Murad Ali further said, “It is a privilege to stand by our healthcare workers who have worked industriously to provide quality healthcare.” He congratulated Dow University of Health Sciences for launching liver transplant services for the people of Sindh. He said the healthcare system’s foremost challenge was to provide adequate health coverage and equal access to medical services for all. “When citizens have to pay out of their pockets, they may delay or relinquish necessary treatments and risk becoming impoverished, especially by chronic diseases which require long-term care,” he observed. Sindh CM said the liver disease was one of the leading causes of death in Pakistan, and liver transplantation was the only lifesaving treatment option. “Considering the social strata, many patients cannot afford liver transplants due to financial constraints and, eventually, pass away,” he deplored and went on to say the allocation of funds by his government had paved the way for the development of liver transplant programs in the province. He said the liver transplant unit at Dow University successfully performed 75 transplants with the financial support of the Sindh government. “In the future, more resources and funds would be capitalised to sustain the liver transplant program for the betterment of humanity,” he said. The Chief Minister recalled that the Gambat Institute of Health Sciences successfully performed 500 liver transplants free-of-cost which was a big success of his government’s services in healthcare. He urged the private sector and philanthropists to come forth and not only donate for liver transplantation but also sponsor a patient so that they could be looked after in the post-translation scenario