Authorities at the Karachi Institute of Heart Diseases (KIHD) have revised their form for free treatment following a social media protest against the hospital’s discrimination against non-Muslims, Syed (Hashemi) and Ahmedis.
According to the details, the KIHD, which is a major state-run hospital of the metropolitan, was only providing free treatment to those who verified that they were neither non-Muslims nor Ahmedis by signing a form.
Those who did not meet these terms were not provided free treatment facility at the hospital.
However, the form which was being used for the last five years was finally changed after a campaign on social media that forced the hospital’s officials to update it.
The new form would only require people to declare that they cannot bare medical expenses because of limited income and is entitled to get free treatment from the hospital.
However, unidentified sources at the hospital who spoke to a local news outlet said that the earlier form was in light of the fact that free treatment is done through money donated as zakaat, adding that this money could only be spent on certain people, mainly Muslims.