THATTA: With the long-awaited approval by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), the recently established Liaquat Institute of Medical & Health Sciences (LIMHS) in Makli is set to commence medical classes from the upcoming academic year.

The state-of-the-art building is the new campus of the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS), Jamshoro. It was originally built by the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), which lately shelved it’s programme and eventually the building was handed over to LUMHS.

The Makli campus was inaugurated by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in the presence of LUMHS Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Ikram Din Ujjan in August last year.

Now after getting PMDC approval for the Makli campus, some 1,500 students would get education in different medical disciplines at LIMHS, the VC told Dawn on Thursday.

The medical education would be imparted to 500 MBBS students, 200 nursing students, 400 physiotherapy students and 400 students from the College of Technology, he said.

Commencement of medical education in this coastal town is seen as a great development to benefit underprivileged communities, including fishermen, peasants and labourers, living in Thatta, Sujawal and adjacent districts. Inhabitants of the coastal areas had not been able to send their children to cities for medical education due to their poor financial condition. Now when medical education has been brought to their doorsteps, these communities would feel encouraged to send their children to the LIMHS to become doctor or a health professional in some other medical discipline.

PPP MPAs Haji Ali Hassan Zardari and Mohammad Ali Malkani from Thatta and Sujawal on Thursday congratulated the local population on the establishment of LIMHS at Makli and highlighted its significance in the backdrop of Thatta’s illustrious academic history. They noted that this region housed over 300 educational institutions.

They pointed out that the PPP government was running a special Green Bus Service between Chatto Chand and Sujawal via LIMHS for its students.

It is pertinent to mention here that the District Headquarters Hospital Makli has already been upgraded to the status of tertiary hospital and is fully equipped with all essential equipment and facilities.

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2024