PESHAWAR (Pakistan) – The second franchise of country’s biggest cancer hospital has started operations in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa capital.
Fakhir Afridi, a cancer patient, inaugurated the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (SKMCH&RC) in Peshawar on Tuesday.
It may be recalled that the Shaukat Khanum Memroial Cancer Hospital Lahore was also inaugurated by a child cancer patient, Sumera Yousaf. Later, the foundation-stone laying ceremony of the hospital in Peshawar was also performed by a child patient, Mohammad Suleman, who was to undergo bone marrow transplant and belonged to Peshawar.
Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan, Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Perveiz Khattak, provincial leaders Shah Farman, Atif Khan and Shahram Tarakzai arrived at the ceremony.
Initially, there would be 20 chemotherapy beds, six emergency room beds, 12 admission beds, 2 intensive care unit beds, radiology services, including mammography, plain radiology and ultrasonography and pathology laboratory at the hospital.
In the first phase, the hospital will provide X-ray, CT scan, MRI, chemotherapy and pathological services to the patients that will be followed by radiation services in the second phase, planned by 2015, and surgery after one year.
Addressing the ceremony, Imran Khan said the establishment of Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was one of his biggest dreams.”
This hospital will not only provide state-of-the-art facilities to the residents of KPK but also to the people of remote areas of the country,” the PTI chairman said.
“Nothing is impossible to achieve if one works with dedication and a goal in mind,” he added.
Chief Executive Officer SKMCH&RC Dr Faisal said that the total cost, Rs3 billion was spent on construction of international standard structures, designed by a US-based architect, who also designed the cancer hospital in Lahore. “We have taken care of flaws that have been made in Lahore,” he added.
“It will be 30 percent bigger than SKMCH&RC Lahore with more sophisticated equipment,” he said.
In the live worldwide fundraising telethon on late Sunday night, Imran Khan was accompanied by celebrities Waseem Akram, Atif Aslam, Ibrarul Haq, Javed Sheikh and Ahsan Khan while the background onscreen appeals were made by Reema Khan, Bushra Ansari, Javed Miandad, Anwar Maqsood and Rahat Feteh Ali Khan to make up for the deficit of Rs210 million.