ISLAMABAD: PTI Chief Imran Khan has said that since 1995 people have donated Rs63 billion to Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital (SKMH) for the treatment of poor patients.
Addressing a fundraising function of Shaukat Khanum Hospital here on Saturday, the prime minister said that cancer is a dangerous disease because after one is diagnosed with it there is fear of death, besides the treatment of the disease is very expensive.
He said that the country needed more cancer hospitals and stated that Shaukat Khanum Hospital being built in Karachi would cater to the population of Sindh and Balochistan. Additionally, he said that the hospital to be opened next year is a very big hospital as compared to Lahore hospital and people would not need to go aboard for treatment.
He said that the people of Pakistan are very generous and they have not only contributed for construction of a private cancer hospital in the country but have also been generously contributing for its operational expenses.
He said that 70 percent patients’ treatment is free of cost in the SKMH and the hospital does not get any funding from the government but the people have been funding it. The prime minister said that the people donate every year more money for the hospital. We have promised the people that 70 percent patients would be provided free of cost treatment in the hospital and this promise was being fulfilled despite sometime funding problems.
The prime minister said that the biggest responsibility of the State is to make the country a welfare State. He added that cancer is the second deadly disease after heart disease but the patients can survive if the cancer is diagnosed at an early stage and this is a big change compared to the past when there was no cure for the disease.
He said that the hospital administration sometimes have to return the cancer pertinent because of scarcity of space but this problem would be addressed after the hospital being built in Karachi is completed.
The prime minister said that the “State of Medina” was based on the principles of humanity, justice, and self-respect. However, he deplored that these principles can be seen in the Scandinavian countries but not in Muslim countries. The nations, which deviate from these principles, cannot progress, added the prime minister. He said that the country has been put on the path that would make it a great nation.
The prime minister said that he also initiated health insurance during the last three years and now for every family on million rupees healthcare expenses would be covered under the scheme even in private hospitals. This would bring about change in the health system as private sector would establish hospitals even in remote areas, he said.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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