By Awais Saleem, IANS,
Islamabad : Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Saturday announced he would donate his liver after death and urged the people to donate organs as well to help others in distress.
“I want to be the first donor of liver, and hope that this gesture will inspire others as well,” Gilani said.
The prime minister was addressing the inaugural ceremony of Pakistan’s first liver transplant centre at Shaikh Zayed Hospital in Lahore. He also announced a grant of Rs.100 million for the newly established health facility.
The number of patients suffering from liver diseases in Pakistan is very high. Earlier, they had no facility within the country for liver transplant and most of them could not afford costly treatment abroad.
(Awais Saleem can be contacted at [email protected])