In a first, cardiac surgery dept opens at Herat hospital

HERAT CITY (Pajhwok): A cardiac surgery department has been inaugurated for the first time at a private hospital in western Herat province.

Deputy Governor Maulvi Hayatullah Mohajir hailed the opening of the heart surgery department at the Luqman-i-Hakim Navid Hospital as good news for citizens, especially residents of western Afghanistan.

He urged residents to fully trust their doctors and refrain from travelling abroad to treat their patients, something costing a huge amount of money.

Meanwhile, Dr Ghulam Ahmad Hanafi, deputy director of public health, said hundreds of people had to go abroad every year for the treatment of heart issues and spent a lot of money.

Dr Hanafi called the opening of heart surgery department an achievement and said patients in the western province were in dire need of such services.

Dr Abdul Sattar Taib, head of the Lugman-i-Hakim Hospital, said at the inauguration ceremony that this department was equipped with facilities and based on health standards, and had experienced staff.

Abdul Latif, a patient who underwent heart surgery at the hospital for the first time, expressed happiness over being treated at a reasonable cost inside the country under the supervision of Afghan doctors.

sa/mud