RAWALPINDI: Al-Shifa Trust has completed work on the establishment of an eye hospital in Chakwal at a cost of Rs250 million.

“The newly-built hospital is equipped with latest facilities and has a capacity of providing treatment to 250 outdoor patients per day,” said retired Major General Rehmat Khan, the president Al-Shifa Trust.

Talking to newsmen, he said the hospital spread over 18 kanals and the construction was completed within two years despite serious problems linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. The hospital will be operational soon.

He said the hospital had the capacity of conducting 50 surgeries per day. It has four clinics along with male and female wards. The poor will get quality eye care services free of cost while expenses would be met through donations.

Mr Khan said the eye hospital in Chakwal will not only help the locals in getting treatment at their doorstep but also reduce the load on Rawalpindi eye hospital.

The trust is planning to establish more hospitals in smaller cities to eradicate blindness and reduce the burden on the base hospital in Rawalpindi, he added.

Al-Shifa Trust is already running four hospitals at Sukkur, Kohat, Muzaffarabad and Rawalpindi.

It has treated 8,922,174 patients during the last 28 years, conducted 691,075 surgeries and has managed 650 corneal transplants per annum. The number of patients screened in camp stands at 1,880,562 while 1,854,910 school-going children have also been examined and treated, he added.

Secondary level hospitals are needed across the country to eradicate blindness, he said.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2021