Tamil Nadu - Chennai

For Karachi cardiologists, Chennai is first line of referral

M. Dinesh Varma

Pakistani doctors send two Afghan boys to the city for treatment

Saud Mohammed (left) and Fayaaz Ahmed

CHENNAI: Back in Karachi, he is known as `Madraswala.'

Ashraf, who works in a pharmaceutical company in Pakistan, has earned a reputation for knowing which hospital to visit for healing children with a failing heart.

His own son Saud Mohammed had undergone surgery for congenital heart disease at Frontier Lifeline hospital almost eight years ago.

Corrective surgery

A few days back, the boy who is now 14 years old had the final corrective surgery performed by K.M. Cherian.

According to Mr. Ashraf, it was their consultant cardiologist who had first referred the boy to Dr. Cherian.

Chennai as a medical destination is the first line of referral for many cardiologists in Pakistan, he said.

Apart from the surgical skills available here, it is also the cost factor that is the major attraction.

"Many families like ours find a sum of around Rs.4 lakhs for surgery here within their ability to mobilise," said Mr. Ashraf.

He switches to Pashto to enquire about the health of an Afghan boy from his father, a pharmacist in Khandahar. Fayaaz Ahmed (11) is recuperating after surgical correction of a congenital heart disease.

His father says that he knew that something was wrong with the boy at the time of his birth. Fayaaz would turn breathless and break into sweat at the slightest effort.

But there were no facilities for a comprehensive examination in Khandahar.

Fayaaz was almost ten years old when he was referred to Pakistan for detailed investigations.

The diagnosis eventually came five years late by when the consultant cardiologist in Pakistan decided that there was no more time to waste and referred the boy to Frontier Lifeline.

Both parents appreciated the speed with which the Indian High Commission in Pakistan and the Consulate in Afghanistan processed and granted visas.

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