Dr Saeed Akthar is one of the world’s finest urologists. He left the US in 2000 and returned to Pakistan to serve his people. I first met him when he operated on my son, who was suffering from a genetic disorder, in 2005 and found him to be an extremely professional and devoted person. Whenever he visits the US, he raises huge funds for the poor back home. Initially, he established a four-bed room in Islamabad’s Shifa International Hospital and dedicated it for the treatment of those who could not afford transplants.
Later, he planned to create a 500-bed hospital in Lahore for liver/kidney transplantations which were free-of-cost for the underprivileged. It was during the Nawaz Sharif-led government that he was given the land and adequate funds to construct the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI). To ensure quality, he hired a number of top surgeons from the UK and the US. Unfortunately, as judicial activism soared in the country, the former chief justice took suo motu action against the cost of the building and the high salaries of the doctors. This action thoroughly demoralised the team of doctors who had set up a big project to help people in need.
Zahid Ali Khan
Rawalpindi
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During the last year of his tenure, former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar visited provinces to identify administrative inefficiencies in different institutional spheres. Initially, his focus was on Punjab where he showed his dissatisfaction over the working of different areas, especially healthcare. He showed a lot of anger as far as the PKLI was concerned. What I am about to write should have been written many months back, but for obvious reasons I could not. I have visited the PKLI twice and, on each visit, I was impressed by its services. Most of all, I was delighted to meet Dr Saeed Akhtar, a humble but outstanding professional with compassion for his patients. It was disappointing to see that he was subjected to the kind of treatment he went through. The former CJP should have spent more time in reforming the country’s justice system. The only request that I have for the new CJP is that he should take necessary measures to make the justice system more efficient and ensure that people get timely and cost effective justice. I know it is a tough calling but this is what we, the ordinary people of Pakistan, wish for.
Dr Zafar I Qureshi
Lahore