KARACHI, December 5 — Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari inaugurated the newly constructed, state-of-the-art OPD Block at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) Karachi, a flagship institution of the Sindh Government and the heart of the world’s largest free cardiac care network.
During the ceremony, Chairman Bilawal reaffirmed that after the 18th Constitutional Amendment, Sindh has proven its ability to manage the public health sector far more effectively than the federal government. He stressed that the PPP’s mission has always been to deliver free, modern, and world-class healthcare to every citizen—an agenda now visibly taking shape across the province.
He called for urgent and comprehensive tax reforms, arguing that provinces must be empowered with greater taxation authority. “The federation continues to face crises not because of devolution, but because institutions like the FBR fail to meet their responsibilities,” he noted, adding that provinces have demonstrated far better tax collection performance. He proposed that provinces should be entrusted to collect additional taxes, even offering that Sindh is ready to meet federal targets and deposit the full amount to support national needs.
Accompanied by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and Provincial Health Minister Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho, the Chairman toured the new OPD Block equipped with advanced medical technology—an expansion that will significantly enhance patient capacity and service quality at NICVD’s central facility.
Highlighting NICVD’s extraordinary growth, he shared that it has become the world’s largest network for free cardiac treatment, with satellite centres in Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Tando Muhammad Khan, Shaheed Benazirabad, Sehwan, and Mithi, along with dozens of chest pain units operating across Karachi. “We have shown the world that a public health system can deliver excellence,” he said.
He further revealed that over the past year alone, NICVD Karachi provided free treatment to:
— 7,017 patients from Azad Kashmir
— 5,020 from Gilgit-Baltistan
— 84,633 from Balochistan
— 35,221 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
— More than 16,000 patients from Punjab
Chairman Bilawal also acknowledged the tremendous success of Sindh’s Public–Private Partnership model, crediting philanthropic partners for enabling some of the world’s most advanced and expensive treatments to be offered completely free of cost.
— With Patient Aid Foundation, cyberknife cancer treatment was introduced at Jinnah Hospital Karachi.
— With ChildLife Foundation, a Children’s Emergency Response Network now operates in every district of Sindh.
— With Indus Hospital, Sindh strengthened its COVID-19 response and expanded primary healthcare outreach.
Responding to criticism from certain federal figures who suggest reversing devolution, Chairman Bilawal rejected the idea, stating that provinces have outperformed the federation in tax collection. Since Sindh began collecting Sales Tax on Services, it has consistently exceeded federal benchmarks—a performance also replicated by Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Proposing a forward-looking economic framework, he said:
“We are ready to collect taxes for the federation. Give us the target—we will meet it. And if we fall short, we will cover the shortfall from our own share. But if we exceed the target, let provinces retain the additional revenue to invest further in public welfare.”
The inauguration marks yet another milestone in Sindh’s healthcare transformation—an achievement rooted in the PPP’s unwavering commitment to equitable access, modern facilities, and a people-first governance model.
