Peshawar: In a major relief for poor kidney patients, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has launched free kidney transplant services under the Sehat Card program at Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) Peshawar.
The initiative means that needy and low-income patients can now receive treatment worth around Rs 2 million completely free of cost. The service is expected to bring hope to hundreds of patients who previously could not afford such expensive procedures.
A kidney transplant in the private sector typically costs millions of rupees, putting it out of reach for most families. Under the Sehat Card, however, the entire cost of the procedure including surgery, hospitalization and follow-up care is covered by the government.
According to hospital officials, the first successful kidney transplant under the Sehat Card has already been performed at KTH. A 40-year-old patient, Muhammad Ilyas, received a kidney donated by his 51-year-old brother, Hazrat Ali, a resident of Charsadda district. The patient will also receive one year of free medicines as part of the program.