Daily Times

Since 1994, the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, built and funded by charitable donations from all across the world, has become a symbol of hope for people living with cancer in Pakistan and in adjoining areas. Over the last twenty-eight years, in Lahore, and the last seven years in Peshawar, Shaukat Khanum Hospitals have seen hundreds of thousands of patients with cancer, and treated them based on principles of quality and equality. SKMT earned the Gold Seal of Approval from the Joint Commission International (JCI) in the Enterprise Accreditation category in 2022, which is testament to the highest standards of clinical excellence available for all patients, over 75 percent of whom receive treatment free of charge.

According to Dr Aasim Yusuf, Chief Medical Officer of SKMT facilities, cancer diagnosis and treatment is complex and multi-faceted, requiring a multi-disciplinary approach. Commenting on the challenges faced by cancer patients he said, “A cancer diagnosis affects the entire family, and often causes major disruption in the life not only of the patient, but also of family members, who may have to give up jobs, or to move house, to help care for a loved one. The majority of people in our country find the costs associated with cancer treatment unaffordable. While a number of facilities in Karachi treat cancer, often to a very high standard, this huge city lacks a state-of-the-art tertiary care cancer centre. It is to bridge this gap, and so as to be able to provide free and high-quality cancer care to as many people as possible, that we have undertaken the gargantuan task of constructing our third, and Pakistan’s biggest, cancer hospital, in Karachi.”

Updating about the new hospital he said, “After completion of the physical structure, finishing works are underway for the Shaukat Khanum Hospital in Karachi, which is planned to open in late-2023. The hospital will be equipped with the latest in technology for both diagnosis and treatment, and will be staffed by highly-qualified professionals. At twice the size of our hospital in Lahore, this hospital will serve not only the city of Karachi, but also patients from elsewhere in Sindh, as well as from Balochistan.” In his message to the public, he said, “Our third hospital is under construction in Karachi, which has a long tradition of philanthropy, and together with our long experience of the generosity of the Pakistani people, means that we have no doubt at all that the people of Pakistan will come together to make our third hospital a reality. We have no doubt that if everyone in Pakistan, with its population of 220 million, gives a little, we can open SKMCH&RC in Karachi by December 2023 to ease the sufferings of cancer patients there, just as we have been able to achieve in Lahore and in Peshawar.”