On 21 August 2026, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif inaugurated Pakistan’s first dedicated heart transplant centre at the Jinnah Institute of Cardiology in Lahore. She described it as a world-class facility and said the province aims to end the belief that advanced heart care is only available abroad.
The new 250-bed autonomous institute, built at a cost of Rs 16 billion opposite the Jinnah Hospital residential area, offers modern cardiac services. These include six catheterisation laboratories, five modular operation theatres, a heart-lung machine, high-end Tesla MRI, cardiac wards, pathology and radiology labs, intensive care, and emergency units. Treatment for heart patients has already started, with the first angiography performed on the new equipment.
Heart transplants, which normally cost around $50,000, will be provided free of charge to deserving patients. The Punjab government will cover the full cost through a special fund. Officials plan to use Chinese technology to lower the expense to about $10,000 so more people can benefit. UK-based cardiologist Dr Hasnat Khan has returned to Pakistan to treat patients and train local doctors at the centre.
