Indian surgeons who tied up with their Pakistani counterparts for a joint venture for liver transplants have refused to carry out any more surgeries due to lack of adequate post-operative care here.
"The Surgery Centre for Liver and Biliary Sciences in New Delhi has refused to extend its agreement with Sheikh Zayed Postgraduate Medical Institute in Lahore to perform surgeries for another term of six months or a year owing to complaints regarding poor post-operative care for patients," a senior doctor of Sheikh Zayed Hospital told PTI.
"There will be no joint liver transplant surgeries by Indian and Pakistani doctors in Lahore after January 10 as the agreement expires on this date," he said.
A team of Indian surgeons collaborated with their Pakistani counterparts for liver transplants throughout the summer last year.
The Indian doctors conducted 22 successful liver transplants in Lahore, for which they were paid USD 30,000.
The senior doctor said the death of a liver recipient - Nazar Mohammad of Punjab province, who was operated on last year by the Indian doctors - had forced the Indian institute not to extend the agreement.
Poor post-operative care was the stated reason for Mohammad's death.
"After the incident, the Indian doctors linked their future visits (to Pakistan) to a massive improvement in meeting the required standards to avert post-operative care complications," he said.
Liver diseases are highly prevalent in Pakistan and account for 37 per cent of deaths due to different illnesses.
A large number of patients ultimately develop end-stage liver disease, for which the only treatment is transplant surgery.
There are currently about 10,000 potential candidates for liver transplants in Pakistan, health experts said. The only option for those requiring transplants is to go abroad for the procedure.
Under the agreement, the two institutes were to share human resource development through training of doctors, nurses and technicians and ensure quality control and good clinical outcome of transplant surgery at Sheikh Zayed Hospital.
The agreement also covered exchange of consultants, nurses and technicians to help both sides expand and improve services.
