Daily Times

Body: Hospital management has organized a project-site visit to brief about the humanitarian project.

At the occasion, Director Marketing, SKMCH&RC, Mr. Tariq Azam said that “The inauguration of the Shaukat Khanum Diagnostic Centre and Clinic in Karachi, in 2010, was the first step towards bringing cancer care facilities closer to the people of Karachi. In continuation of this vision, the Trust has now embarked on its latest project, to establish Pakistan’s third and largest Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (SKMCH&RC), in Karachi. The new project in Karachi was officially inaugurated at a ceremony held on the construction site on December 29, 2016. He announces that the long-awaited project, which has been made possible by the purchase, at advantageous rates, of 20 acres of land from the Defence Housing Authority, in their DHA City project.”

While talking about the budget and facilities of the project Mr. Azam shared his expectations to complete construction of the Hospital over a three-year time-frame, at an estimated cost of Rs. 6.2 billion. “It is our plan to open Hospital in December 2021 as a fully-functional cancer hospital with all the essential clinical and support departments one would expect of a facility of this nature”, he added.

It was the need of time construction of this hospital in Karachi to give health facility to the people of south of Pakistan said Mr. Tariq. He added further that “The construction of a comprehensive cancer center in Karachi will not only provide state-of-the-art cancer care facilities to the people of Sind and Baluchistan, but it will also help to enhance healthcare standards and to develop training and employment opportunities in the wider region as a whole. SKMCH&RC is committed to provide equal cancer treatment facilities to every citizen of Pakistan, He said. Our hospital in Karachi will help eradicating sense of deprivation in people from Sindh and Balochistan. In line with its mission to ensure access to the poor, over 75% of our cancer patients receive free cancer care and this will continue in Karachi.”

He also added that “Shaukat Khanum Hospital is providing financially supported cancer treatment to 75% of its patients since 1994. So far, Rs. 39 billion has been spent on free cancer treatment. This huge amount reflects the trust of people about cancer eradication. The management of SKMCH&RC is hopeful about financial support from the people of Karachi.