KARACHI, July 29: Sobhraj Maternity Hospital (SMH), which is the second oldest hospital and the oldest maternity hospital of Karachi, has turned 74 years old. On the occasion of this anniversary, the hospital has added the oncology department to its existing facilities.

The SMH was founded in 1928 by Chetumal Sobhraj in memory of his wife, Mrs Kishen Devi Sobhraj, as a welfare health unit for women of the area.

A three story block was added to its private wing in 1975, and the mother and child centre was upgraded to maternity home status in 1979 — the same year that it was recognized by the Royal Collage of Obstrectricians and Gynaecologists (London) for post graduate teaching.

In 1987, the Collage of Physicians and Surgeons also recognized it. A school of nursing for midwife teaching and training was established in 1991, and was upgraded to the status of maternity hospital in 2001.

While under the present MS, Dr Shabeen Naz, the labour ward protocol has been revised, after five years, with several changes to keep up with new developments. The purpose of this protocol is to provide doctors a source of practical information about labour ward management.

Apart from the neonatology department, blood bank, ultrasound and computer section, the oncology department, which deals with the cancer of the genital tract, is the latest addition to the existing facilities.

Chemotherapy treatment is also provided in the hospital for patients who are surgically treated for cancer of the genital tract.

Also, it holds reproductive health awareness programmes for the general public, teachers, and students of the city government schools, while it plans to open a Thalassaemia centre.

Naib Nazim Tariq Hasan has lauded the services of the SMH for the masses of Karachi, and has appealed to philanthropist for contributions to the hospital.—PPI