Shifa announces liver transplantation programme !

Shifa International on Tuesday launched its liver transplantation programme, to be headed by Dr. Najmul Hassan Shah, who was installed as the programme’s director at a simple ceremony held at the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Dr. Najmul Hassan has recently returned from the United Kingdom, where he was working as a consultant gastroenterologist at the Heart of England NHS Trust, Birmingham Heartlands Hospitals. He has special interest in therapeutic endoscopy and pancreatic diseases.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Najam shared the vision of the liver transplantation programme, which envisages initiation of robust networking in order to bring liver transplantation surgery to Pakistan in a sustainable manner. He acknowledged previous and ongoing efforts by individuals and institutions within Pakistan in the area of liver transplantation since 2003 and highlighted the limitations, hurdles and bottlenecks in the realisation of a long-term and successful national liver transplant surgery programme.

The Liver Transplant Clinic at Shifa International will offer pre-transplant assessment, pre-transplant management and care, post-transplant management and follow-up and donor assessment for living liver donation. The programme has already developed close international networking with various liver transplant surgical programmes to facilitate patient referrals.

Dr. Najam informed that a transplant team from Kings College London, which is the biggest liver transplantation programme in Europe, is due to visit Pakistan under an international linkage programme. The team will spend a day at Shifa on October 3. Shifa is also expecting visits from a number of other international transplant teams from Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and India.

Director Gastroenterology Services Prof. Dr. Nasir Khokhar, Medical Director Dr. M H Qazi, Medical Dean Dr. Mujtaba Qadri, Consultant Gastroenterology Dr. Saeed Zameer and Dr. Farzana Shafqat also spoke on the occasion.