- Issue is complete absence of organ donation in country, say experts.
- Patients travelling to India due to absence of transplant services in Pakistan.
- India has built thriving transplant system through extensive awareness campaigns.
ISLAMABAD: Two young Pakistanis are once again forced to embark on a desperate journey to India for life-saving heart transplants with dying hearts and shattered hopes, as their own country remains incapable of giving them a second chance, The News reported.
A 21-year-old computer science student from Sialkot, Emaan Taufiq and 25-year-old Asad Ali from Karachi (name changed on request) are battling dilated cardiomyopathy, a severe form of heart failure.
Heart transplants remain impossible due to the absence of a deceased organ donation system despite Pakistan having world-class cardiac surgeons and state-of-the-art medical facilities.
Legal frameworks exist, but deep-rooted cultural and religious beliefs prevent families from allowing organ harvesting from brain-dead patients.
As a result, those who can afford it — or those desperate enough to sell their possessions — are left struggling to secure Indian visas and raise up to $150,000 for a transplant.
Emaan is among the lucky few who obtained a six-month Indian visa for treatment in Chennai, but now her father, Muhammad Taufiq, faces the monumental challenge of arranging the funds.
“I spent five years just securing a visa for my daughter, and now we need at least $100,000 to $150,000 to proceed with the transplant,” he said. “I have already sold everything I could, but I still need around Rs20 million. I appeal to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, and philanthropists to help us.”
Asad, also diagnosed with the same condition, is struggling to arrange the necessary funds. His family, like many others, is left wondering why heart transplants remain out of reach in Pakistan.
According to experts, the issue is not a lack of medical expertise but the complete absence of organ donation. Faisal Abdullah Malik, Pakistan’s longest-surviving heart transplant recipient, knows this struggle firsthand.
In 2015, he travelled to Chennai, where he received a donor heart from an Indian citizen — giving him nearly a decade of life.
“In Pakistan, we have some of the best cardiac surgeons, but they can’t perform heart transplants because no one donates organs after death,” he said. “Every year, hundreds of patients die waiting for a transplant, simply because we do not have a culture of organ donation.”
In contrast, India has built a thriving transplant system through extensive awareness campaigns. The Tamil Nadu state-run Transplant Authority (TRANSTAN) has facilitated over 600 heart and lung transplants by promoting public pledges and coordinating organ retrieval from brain-dead patients.
Dr KR Balakrishnan, the Indian surgeon who has performed many of these transplants — including those for Pakistani patients — believes Pakistan can achieve the same success if a structured donation programme is implemented.
“The expertise is there. What’s missing is a system that supports heart transplantation,” he said.
Pakistan’s Federal Shariat Court ruled in 2009 that organ donation is permissible in Islam, and the Human Organ Transplant Authority (HOTA) was established to regulate transplants.
However, hospitals rarely report brain-dead patients for organ retrieval, and families often refuse consent, even if it could save multiple lives.
The consequences have been devastating. In 2018, legendary Pakistani hockey goalkeeper Mansoor Ahmed Khan died from dilated cardiomyopathy after failing to secure a transplant.
Renowned Pakistani-American cardiac surgeon Dr Pervaiz Chaudhry had offered to implant a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD), a temporary heart failure solution, but it was not enough to save his life.
Dr Chaudhry has long pushed for a heart transplant programme in Pakistan. “I have performed over 71 heart and lung transplants abroad and trained for this procedure in the US,” he said.
He added: “I started an LVAD programme at NICVD Karachi — the first step toward heart transplantation — but it never materialised.”
A decade ago, the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC) announced transplant programmes, but no procedures were ever conducted.
Experts warn that without an urgent shift in public attitudes toward organ donation, Pakistan will continue losing lives unnecessarily.
“If families of brain-dead patients allow donations, we could save hundreds of lives every year,” said Faisal Abdullah Malik. “This is the best form of charity, a true ‘sadqa jariya’.”
As Emaan and Asad prepare for their desperate journey to Chennai, the question remains: how many more Pakistanis must leave—or die—before their own country offers them a chance to live?
