PAKISTAN: Scale-Up Of Heart Transplants And Free Pediatric Heart Surgeries As Doctors Trained Abroad

Punjab’s Pediatric heart transplant Surge: Thousands Treated, Waiting Lists Still Loom

WORLD NEWS – PAKISTAN: A major expansion of pediatric cardiac care in Punjab is foregrounding heart transplants and congenital heart surgery as a national priority, with officials describing intensive capacity building across public and private hospitals. Authorities report that more than 500 children a year are born with congenital heart defects, including septal defects and tetralogy of Fallot, and that treatment costs have been placed at roughly 8–10 lakh rupees for complex cases when billed.

The program centers on a network of institutions — including children’s Hospital Lahore, the Punjab Institute of Cardiology in Lahore, children’s Hospital Multan, the Rawalpindi and Faisalabad Institutes of Cardiology, and several private centers in Multan — where specialist teams now perform pediatric cardiac operations and transplants. Officials say about 8,500 pediatric heart procedures have been completed to date, and a figure of roughly 900 transplants was cited as part of the broader surgical effort. Skilled surgeons remain scarce, prompting targeted training initiatives and overseas collaboration to bring expertise home.

Leaders emphasize that the effort is not confined to Punjab alone: the pediatric cardiac services are being made available nationwide, with roughly 700 beneficiaries coming from outside Punjab. The out-of-province mix includes more than 300 children from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, over 250 from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, patients from Gilgit-Baltistan, about 90 from Islamabad, and others from Sindh and Balochistan; these cases are being treated free of charge under the provincial flagship program. Teams flown in from England have provided instruction, and plans call for further rotations and local training to expand the pool of qualified surgeons and nurses.

Officials acknowledge significant waiting lists and backlog pressure at public hospitals, and say the initiative aims to reduce referrals abroad by offering timely, free treatment at home. The push combines surgical volume, cross-border and provincial access, and workforce training to try to transform pediatric heart transplantation and surgery into a sustainable, nationwide service.