Setting up cancer hospital in Peshawar: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government gives Rs 51 million cheque to SKMCH

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has handed over a cheque of Rs 51 million to Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital (SKMCH) and Research Centre for construction of a hospital in Peshawar. According to SKMCH spokesman, the KP government had promised to provide this donation on the ground-breaking ceremony in March, 2011. The hospital management has appreciated Chief Minister Amir Haider Hoti for this donation.
The KP provincial government had also donated a piece of land for the proposed 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 spokesman said. The estimated cost of the first phase is Rs 400 million. "In the second and third phases, we expect to add radiation and surgical services, increase the total number of inpatient beds, and add a full intensive care unit. In order to raise the funds required to accomplish a project of this magnitude, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust relies heavily on the support of the people at large".
The construction of a comprehensive cancer diagnosis and treatment facility in Peshawar will not only provide state-of-the-art cancer treatment services to the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, irrespective of their ability to pay, but would also help raise healthcare standards and provide training and employment opportunities in the wider region.