A delegation of the Indus Health Network (IHN) led by its founder Dr Abdul Bari called on H.E. Syed Ibne Abbas, Pakistan High Commissioner to the UK on 23 April 2018. The delegation was accompanied by Sajjad Karim MEP, who also supports the Network, says a press release received from London here today. Dr Abdul Bari gave an introduction of the Network to the High Commissioner stating that it was initiated in 2007 by a team of committed healthcare professionals, entrepreneurs and philanthropists, which changed the dynamics of healthcare system in Pakistan. They started a tertiary care hospital in the urban slums of Karachi and in a very short span of time, free of cost quality treatment became the hallmark of The Indus Hospital, attracting patients from all over Pakistan, said Dr Bari. The High Commissioner commended the philanthropic spirit of Dr Abdul Bari and his entire team. He said health sector of Pakistan needs more such networks as IHN to cater the health needs of our growing population. The High Commissioner called upon the medical fraternity of Pakistan working abroad to get together on a single platform and serve the country. In this regard, he assured Mission’s all possible support to the delegation, including fast track Pakistan visas to health professionals on the recommendation of the Network. He further offered that the Network could hold their events at the Pakistan High Commission, London. The High Commissioner appreciated Sajjad Karim MEP for his support to the IHN’s initiatives. It was informed that in order to cater to the ever-increasing number of patients, The Indus Hospital has been expanding its services by launching secondary and tertiary care hospitals. In the year 2016-17, the Indus Health Network emerged with 11 secondary and tertiary care hospitals across Pakistan. The delegation informed that some of IHN hospitals are managed and financed by the network itself and some are only managed by the network under the umbrella of public-private partnership. With the establishment of hospitals, the network soon identified that early detection and prevention are as important as provision of quality treatment. To cater to this need, the network established family medicine clinics and launched a large number of public health outreach programs across 41 districts of the country. Other members of the delegation included Karim Paracha, Ibrahim Jamali, Anwar Zaidi, Mukarram Sattar, and Faraz Khan. A brief detail of the impact of the Network given by the delegation is as under: 158,418 patients treated per month (July 2017-Feb 2018). Since 2007 more than 6.7 million patients have been treated. Key initiatives: Blood Center: established in 2013 that mobilized the nation towards 100% voluntary blood donation; provision of safest possible blood screened on international standards Physical Rehabilitation Centre: established in 2015 in collaboration with ICRC and Chal Foundation to provide prosthetic & orthotic devices Children Cancer Services: largest children cancer oncology unit in Pakistan. Disease-based outreach programs: Aao TB Mitao: program initiated and scaled up through collaboration with National TB Program of Govt of Pakistan & private sector stakeholders; funded by Global Fund for AIDS, TB & Malaria, TB REACH & donor agencies. To date 1.7 million patients have been screened for TB through the program Malaria Program: provides quality malaria diagnosis, treatment and preventive services to the rural population of 12,275,694 in 18 high endemic difficult to reach districts of Pakistan HIV program: Started in December 2016, focusing on scaling the programmatic management of PWIDs affected by HIV. ***** ?
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