PIMS to have dentistry hospital and dental college

Islamabad
The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) has approved the establishment of a dentistry hospital and dental college at the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU). The project will be completed at a cost of Rs1.36 billion, the Vice Chancellor of the university Prof. Dr. Javed Akram informed the media here on Tuesday.
The project was approved during the CDWP meeting chaired by the Planning Commission’s Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal. “This public sector dentistry hospital and dental college will be a gift, not only the residents of the capital city, but for the entire nation,” Prof. Akram said. The hospital, he added, would open new avenues for local and international researchers willing to conduct research in the field of dentistry, while also providing dental treatment to millions of patients in the coming decades.
Prof. Akram hoped that the project would be completed within three years, with one year dedicated to purchase of equipment. He appreciated the Higher Education Commission’s support for the project. “In the coming years, my focus will be to enhance and upgrade almost every department of PIMS, and bring it at par with any leading private or international hospital,” Prof. Akram claimed.
The VC maintained that in spite of a huge patient load, the dentistry department at PIMS is performing far better than any other public sector dentistry department across the country. According to independent estimates, the population of Islamabad city alone has crossed over to 1.8 million, which translates into increased pressure on public health institution like PIMS. Prof. Akram said almost 300 patients are visiting the dentistry department on a daily basis. “We address the dental problems of over 108,000 patients annually,” he stated in response to a query.