Karachi (Muhammad Yasir)
Caretaker Sindh Chief Minister, Justice (retired) Maqbool Baqar, has expressed firm optimism that the upcoming charitable tertiary care hospital, University Medical Complex (UMC), to be built in Gulistan-e-Jauhar area after completion will serve as a milestone in fulfilling burgeoning healthcare needs of the residents of Karachi.
The interim Sindh CM was addressing as the chief guest at the fundraiser organised here at a hotel on Sunday for the speedy construction of the UMC. The Medics International (MI) has been building the UMC jointly with the Baqir Health and Educational Welfare Trust and Zaidi Abid Foundation, USA.
Speaking on the occasion, the interim CM noted that the healthcare needs of the residents of the city had been continuously increasing.
He said the upcoming charitable healthcare facility would go a long way in phenomenally decreasing the burden of patients on the existing public hospitals in the city.
He expressed gratitude to the concerned healthcare professionals, philanthropists, and charity leaders who had conceived the idea of building a charitable tertiary care hospital in the city’s heart in the shortest possible time.
Justice (retired) Baqar said the construction of the UMC was the embodiment of the collective efforts on the part of the concerned philanthropists and charitable institutions to improve the public healthcare standards in Karachi.
He hoped that UMC after completion would also serve the deserving patients belonging to many underprivileged areas in rural Sindh and adjoining parts of Balochistan.
He said that a new tertiary care health facility was not merely a brick-and-mortar structure as it would emerge as a symbol of hope, compassion, and state-of-the-art treatment for patients from underprivileged communities.
He noted that UMC would also emerge as a centre of excellence in the field of medical education as in this regard it would establish linkages with leading medical universities in the world.
He eulogized the resolve of the MI and its partner charitable organisations to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of ailing populations in the country that didn’t have the means to get the latest treatment facilities from the elite private hospitals in the city.
The interim CM praised the charitable efforts of the MI continuing for the past 30 years to provide essential healthcare facilities to the patients in backward and rural areas of the country and provision of emergency medical aid to the victims of natural disasters.
He urged the concerned philanthropists and donors to come forward and fully support the construction of the UMC as a state-of-the-art healthcare facility for needy patients in Karachi and adjoining areas.
Justice (retired) Baqir said the Caretaker Sindh government would provide whatever assistance would be required to build the construction of the UMC whether in the form of provision of land or grant-in-aid for the upcoming hospital.
MI Pakistan CEO, Dr Dilbar Saeed, said in his welcome remarks that his non-profit and partner charities had the aim to build the upcoming charitable hospital and make it operational in the next five to seven years.
He said the UMC after becoming operational would generate employment opportunities for over 1,000 senior healthcare professionals who would provide specialised medical care to needy patients.
He said the UMC wouldn’t decline the provision of essential treatment facilities to any patients on the grounds of his financial inability or lack thereof as the upcoming healthcare project wouldn’t stand for earning profits.
Dr Saeed informed the audience at the fundraiser that dedicated sections of the UMC would take care of the specialised medical needs of cancer and women patients.
He said the UMC would work as a centre of excellence for healthcare professionals who had the aim to enhance their academic qualifications as per the international standards of medical education.
Dr Husain Mehdi, representing the Zaidi Abid Foundation, informed the audience that the UMC would serve the needy patients without any discrimination as the beneficiaries of the upcoming tertiary care hospital would belong to all ethnicities, religions, and sects in the country.
He informed the audience that the construction phase of the UMC would begin in January 2024.
Chairman of Sindh Higher Education Commission, Prof Dr SM Tariq Rafi, hoped that concerned philanthropists and donors of Karachi would ensure the construction of the UMC in the shortest possible time.
Renowned TV artist, Khalid Anum, who conducted the fundraiser, also announced the donation of an ambulance on behalf of his family for the upcoming hospital. Noted philanthropist, Nadra Panjwani, announced a Rs five million donation for the UMC.
