Second cancer hospital: SKMT holds groundbreaking ceremony on March 9

Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust (SKMT) is holding groundbreaking ceremony of its second cancer hospital in Peshawar on 9th March 2011 whose first phase would be completed at a cost of Rs 400 million.
According to the Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital's spokesman, the construction of a comprehensive cancer diagnosis and treatment facility in Peshawar city will not only provide state-of-the-art cancer treatment services to the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but will also help raise healthcare standards and provide training and employment opportunities in the wider region.
Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ameer Hayder Hoti will be the chief guest on this occasion while provincial ministers, Senator Hameed Ullah Afridi, Peshawar Development Authority's Director General Laeeq Qazi, first bone marrow transplant patient of the Shaukat Khanum Hospital who belongs to Peshawar, doctors, representatives from Chamber of Commerce, donor agencies, representatives of each school and college and celebrities from different walks of life are expected to attend the event, he said.
Chairman Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust Imran Khan, members Board of Governors and senior management of the hospital will also be present on this occasion. The Trust has already established 62 collection centres in Pakistan, of which 11 are situated in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and Fata, aiming at to provide authentic diagnosis results to the people of that area. Shaukat Khanum walk-in clinic is already functional in Peshawar city for the last five years to facilitate the patients of that area for early detection of cancer.
It may be recalled that by recognising the credibility of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust, the provincial government has awarded 50 kanals of land in Peshawar for the construction of the hospital. Plans are underway to complete the first phase, comprising outpatient clinics, chemotherapy facilities and an inpatient unit, within three years of commencement of building works.
The estimated cost of the first phase is Rs 400 million. Radiation therapy, surgical services, addition in total number of inpatient beds and a full intensive care unit is expected to be added in its second and third phases. By the completion of this project, people of KP province will surly be benefited, he added.