Dr.

Adeeb Rizvi
Dr. Adeeb Rizvi, the founder and head of Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT)
is a prominent name who is doing a phenomenal job when it comes to medical treatment and
welfare of patients coming over to SIUT. He has the great will to cater his patient’s desires, His
efforts not only as a doctor but as an administrator and as a human being are highly
commendable. He maintains that his greatest satisfaction is to see the smiles on the patients'
faces.

An individual's effort devoted to the service of humanity is one of the very first of thought that
comes to mind when we talk about Dr. Adib Rizvi, a doctor by profession and a hardcore
philanthropist. He has devoted his very existence in saving millions of lives through the
establishment of SIUT. An institution, where one learns the acts of kindness, companionship,
commitment and struggle to save those who cannot afford proper treatment due to lack of funds.

SIUT started as an 8 bed unit in 1971, is now a 450 bedded facility, the largest health
organization in Pakistan. It provides free and comprehensive services in urology, nephrology,
transplantation and liver related diseases

The SIUT is the largest public sector health organisation in the country, which provides free,
modern medical care for kidney diseases and transplantation.

SIUT’s prime mission is to treat diseases and to create awareness among people about their
prevention. It also works towards the rehabilitation of patients after treatment. After being given
autonomy in 1991, SIUT has treated over 1 million patients and spent over a billion rupees on
patient care.

Their patients are predominantly from the rural and poorer urban strata with virtually no access
to medical facilities, and those people who are financially incapable of affording modern
diagnostic, treatment and transplant facilities.
SIUT’s extensive facilities are fully equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, which enables it to
provide free treatment related to a vast area of medicine. This also means that many patients,
who would have to go abroad for costly treatment, can now be treated within the country,
thereby saving valuable foreign exchange.

Dr.Rizvi is the president of the Transplant Society of Pakistan. In 2003, he led a team of SIUT
surgeons that performed the first successful liver transplant on an infant in Pakistan.

So how does Dr Rizvi finance this remarkable and renowned institution? Last year, 800 million
rupees were spent on running costs; out of this, around 300 million came from the Sindh
government as a grant, while the rest came as donations. In fact, the new building housing part of
the facility was built entirely from donations. One reason for the success he has had in raising
funds is that people find it hard to say ‘no’ to him. His passion for his work and his enthusiasm
are so quickly transmitted that even the most cynical person can’t help being impressed. With his
shock of white hair and his engaging smile, he has more energy than anybody I know. SIUT
depends substantially on contributions from the public, corporate bodies and citizens to provide
free treatment to all. A government grant and Zakat contributions are also an important part of
their funding. The Society for the Welfare of Patients of Urology and Transplantation is the
welfare body of SIUT that raises funds for the provision of free urology services.

Apart from the daily routine of dialysis and operations being performed around the clock, Dr
Rizvi has kept SIUT at the cutting edge of research. Specialists from around the world come to
visit his Institute, and he is often invited to read papers at international conferences. But none of
this would have been possible without the team of doctors he has gathered around him. With his
charismatic personality, he has motivated a whole generation of medical professionals in
Karachi. Recently, SIUT launched its School of Technology and its Nursing School and College.
SIUT also runs the country’s only centre for biomedical ethics and culture.

For years now, Dr Rizvi has been campaigning for legislation that would make it illegal to buy
and sell organs, while legalising donations of kidneys, hearts and other vital body parts. Thus far,
he has been thwarted by the mafia that exploits the poor to harvest kidneys for the rich. This
ongoing scandal has been much publicized, but the doctors who thrive on this evil trade have
used their connections to sideline the legislation Dr Rizvi drafted years ago. Even after a decision
to finally present the legislation before parliament, there is a move to make it less stringent, and
allow loopholes. 

The President has announced that the Government would officially nominate Dr Adeeb ul
Hassan Rizvi for the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his services in the field of organ
transplant.
 An interview with Dr.Adeeb Rizvi

Rabeea Shehzad interviewed Dr Adeeb Rizvi, the director of Sindh Institute of Urology and
Transplantation (SIUT).

RS: First of all I would like to know that where did you get the motivation to start such an
institute, and that too in a country like Pakistan where providing the kind of services that you
currently are, free of cost is not easy, especially in terms of funding. So what was the motivation
behind starting this institute?

AR: First of all I would like to say that no other country believes in charity as much as
Pakistan and Pakistanis do, and it should not be a difficult task if people are willing to do
it. Secondly, a person’s own observation becomes his motivation. If you have a sensitive
mind and you observe things around you, then you respond to those things. 

RS: But when you laid its foundation, when you started this institute, it is said that there were
only eight beds here at SIUT premises. Were you the only one who started this or were there
other people too who helped you in establishing this institute? Whose idea was this basically? 

AR: Well, the Urology Ward was already there, and yes there were a small number of beds
here, but there was no planning behind all this. We never dreamt or planned about this
institute and how we were going to run it. It was just that whenever a patient used to come
in and if he was in need of an operation, and if he thought that the operation could not take
place due to some reasons, we always tried our level best to make it possible.

As the time passed, people started joining me here and the team became bigger and bigger.
For example if a patient came in and both of his kidneys had stones and needed an
operation, a blood test needs to be conducted before the operation. Apart from that there
should be a well equipped operation theatre and there should be equipment to take an X-
Ray. If all these things are not there then they should be made available and if they cannot
be made available, the next best substitute for that particular thing should be made
available instead. So attempts should be made to make things possible. That is what we did
here, and whatever you see here, it is in response to the need of the patients that come here.
We have constantly been trying to respond to the need of the patients.

RS: Why did you decide to work only for the Urology and Transplantation fields? Didn’t you
have any interest in any other field such as heart diseases etc?

AR: No, basically I am a surgeon, and as a surgeon when I came here, I got a job in the
Urology Department. So my field actually got confined to just that and I have been in the
Urology Department since then.

RS: And did you go abroad for receiving education?

AR: No, I got my MBBS Degree from the DOW Medical College, after that I went to
England for my fellowship in Edinburgh and London. I worked there for eight years and
then came back to Pakistan.

RS: Why did you decide to come back to Pakistan after working there? Because there are a lot of
Pakistani doctors who complain about the way things are being run here and so they decide to go
abroad.

AR: In Pakistan, a doctor has to make his importance felt, he has to prove himself.

RS: And it takes quite a long time for them to prove themselves as respected doctors?

AR: I believe that if you do not think about making your importance felt or proving
yourself, it happens eventually and it happens all by itself, you should not think about it. A
lot of my friends and colleagues are abroad, most of them are in the US and in UK, but in
no way do I consider myself less fortunate than them.

RS: Did you come back to Pakistan with this motive that you were going to do something here
after working in England for eight years?

AR: I had never really thought about what I was going to do once I was back in Pakistan
but I always had this thing in mind that I belong to Pakistan and I can do anything
anywhere else, but I will never get that sense of belonging anywhere but in Pakistan. That
is something that I had always felt strongly. When I went to the UK, I had gone with the
intention of returning to my own country and I did. Given the opportunity, I will do the
same thing again.

RS: It is a fact that if you have to achieve something in life, or if you want to work towards
something big, it is never easy to do it alone without any support, and there is usually a whole
team that needs to help one achieve something that big. What qualities do you think a person
should have to work together with a team and keep them together, and to transfer one’s purpose
and intention to them as well to achieve the goal? It is a very difficult job to do.

AR: It does not have to be difficult, provided that you give them a sense of belonging and
participation. It should not be like that you have a separate dining hall where you are
having your meal alone and you make the rest of the team and staff eat somewhere else.
You should always try and work towards removing distances and bringing people
together. 

For example we have just one kitchen here where everyone, from the ward-boy to the
professor eats in that same kitchen. We have self-service here and everyone eats the same
thing. So instead of increasing the distances, if you try to completely remove them, then it
will never be a problem. It will never be a difficult job.

RS: Is it difficult to attract people for charity work so that they can come and work with you
here?

AR: I think it is a bit difficult in the beginning. But if you motivate people, for example,
you will have to fulfill the needs of the people who come to work for you. You have to look
after that and you have to motivate them as well. You have to set your own example and
make sure they get the same pleasure from your work as you do, and you have to keep
them together in times of success and failure.

RS: Have you faced any problems in building up your staff and have you ever felt that you have
fewer doctors here and that you have a need to recruit more doctors?

AR: Well, we have few doctors but that is only because the patients increase in number
everyday and there is a certain load. For example, we conduct two transplants everyday
and that is the routine, in addition to all the other work that is going on in the institute.
Every day we add Rs 1.2 million to the transplant fund. I cannot give you a fixed budget
because the budget keeps on changing all the time. A place where there is so much activity
going on, obviously there has to be work pressure, and only those people stick around who
are willing to work and who are willing to accept the challenges this job has to offer.

RS: Do you face problems with funding?

AR: Yes, that problem has always been there and I think it always will be.

RS: How much funding do you receive? I mean you said that you conduct transplants everyday
so can you tell us about the money that you receive?

AR: We perform 10 to 12 transplants every week, and that means an expenditure of

around Rs 3.6 million per month. But see, everything has been provided from the people of
this country and the government. We get grants from the Sindh government and then we
get donations from the average Pakistani.

RS: Are the free of cost services provided to everyone who comes here, or only the ones who are
unable to pay due to financial constraints?

AR: No, there is no screening at SIUT whatsoever. Anybody, irrespective of caste, color,
creed or financial capacity can come to the SIUT and feel that they have a right to receive
treatment. 

Anything that is needed for the patient and his treatment will be provided for free. For as
long as the patient is in the hospital, everything will be provided free of charge to him. For
transplantation, our motto is ‘Treatment and Beyond’. Transplantation is not too difficult,
but the tricky bit is checking to see if the transplanted kidney is functioning normally in the
body, and certain expensive medication is required for that purpose. Apart from that, there
is the follow up and the routine checkups involved later. That is why we say ‘Treatment
and Beyond’. I think looking after the patient once the transplant has been done is more
important than the transplant or treatment itself.

RS: Thank you so much for your time.

AR: You are welcome*

Submitted to: Mr. Mirza Sardar Hussain

Submitted by: Sennen Desouza (BBA III)