Lahore: Pakistan's medical community has expressed dismay over some of its country's citizens making a beeline for India for heart surgeries.

The doctors believe it is an indicator of poor health facilities in the country and that Pakistanis have lost confidence in them, 'The Nation' reported on July 25.

They said the country had state-of-the-art healthcare facilities at many hospitals such as the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC), where the treatment is provided at affordable costs.

Their remarks came even as the Indian government announced major concessions for the Pakistani children seeking medical treatment in its hospitals. On July 24, New Delhi announced granting of early visas to such children. It also announced that it would to fund the travel, stay and medical expenses of 20 such children initially.

The Pakistani doctors claim that at least 10 children had been successfully operated upon at the PIC last week, including four-month-old Danish, who had two holes in his heart. "It was really very tough, but we have done it successfully and safely," a doctor said.

These institutions, they claimed, were being run under the supervision of able and efficient doctors, adding that by seeking treatment in India, an attempt was being made to malign Pakistani doctors.

Doctors working at some government and private institutions said they were unable to understand this trend, which they believed was contrary to national interests as well as a lack of confidence on domestic medical institutions.

Their anguish was aired even as Junaid Khalid, an-eight-year-old Pakistani boy, arrived in Bangalore, India, for cardiac surgery this week. He is the second Pakistani child after two-year-old Noor Fatima, to undergo an operation at a Bangalore hospital.

ANI