TAXILA: Ophthalmologist Dr Pramila Lall, one of Pakistan’s most revered medical professionals, passed away peacefully on Saturday at the age of 93 at Christian Hospital, Taxila, where she devoted nearly seven decades of her life in service to humanity.

Hospital officials confirmed her death, describing it as the end of an era for eye care in Pakistan.

Dr Lall served at Christian Hospital, Taxila, for over 50 years, providing low-cost, high-quality eye care to millions, particularly the poor.

Widely recognised as Pakistan’s first female ophthalmologist, she is also believed to have conducted the highest number of eye surgeries by any woman ophthalmologist in Asia.

Born in Nagpur, India, in 1932, Dr Pramila graduated from the prestigious Christian Medical College, Vellore, in 1957. During her student years, fate introduced her to Dr Ernest Lall, a Pakistani national. Their marriage brought her to Pakistan the same year, where she joined Christian Hospital, Taxila.

She earned her Diploma in Ophthalmology from London in 1964, becoming Pakistan’s first woman specialist in the field. Her excellence was recognised internationally when she was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists in 1980 and later nominated as an international member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology in 1987.

In 1976, she once again made history by becoming the first woman in Pakistan to perform intraocular implant surgery.

A founder member of the Rawalpindi chapter of the Ophthalmological Society of Pakistan, Dr Lall trained generations of national and international doctors in eye surgery and clinical ophthalmology.

She served on the National Steering Committee for the Prevention of Blindness and played a central role in running postgraduate training programmes as head of the ophthalmology department.

Her selfless service earned her numerous accolades, including the prestigious Paul Harrison Award in 1983 for meritorious services to the blind, and the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz in 2002, conferred by then president Pervez Musharraf.

According to Dr Nadeem David, director of Christian Hospital, her last rites are expected to be held on Tuesday following the arrival of her three children from abroad. She will be laid to rest within the hospital premises beside her late husband, Dr Ernest Lall’s grave.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2026