Former JPMC executive director Dr Seemin Jamali passes away

Dr Seemin Jamali, former executive director of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), passed away at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) on Saturday evening due to cancer. She was 63.

Dr Seemin is survived her husband Dr AR Jamali and two sons Omar Jamali and Baber Jamali.

Madam [Dr Seemin] passed away this evening at the AKUH. She was fighting cancer but left us today, her husband told The News.

He added that Dr Seemin had been battling cancer for some time. She was taken to the AKUH last week after her condition deteriorated.

Despite best efforts by the medical team at the hospital, she could not survive, Dr Jamali said.

Following her retirement as the JPMC executive director, she was made the head of the national task force on health but due to her deteriorating health, she could not play active role in the health sector, her former colleagues at the JPMC said.

Dr Seemin was daughter of GD Memon who was the first finance secretary of Sindh after One Unit was abolished. He also served as the federal secretary and chairman of the Sindh Public Service Commission.

The late medical expert completed her MBBS from Peoples Medical College Nawabshah and studied at multiple academic institutes in Karachi and abroad, including John Hopkins University.

She was awarded Tamgha-e-Imtiaz by the government of Pakistan for her exceptional services in the field of medicine. Following her retirement, she was also made an honorary Lt Colonel by the Pakistan Army for her services to the people of Pakistan as well as the armed forces of the country. Her funeral prayers will take place at the JPMC mosque on Sunday after the Asr prayers, said the family.

Condolences

Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho expressed condolences over the demise of Dr Seemin, terming her death a great loss for the country and Sindh.

Bilawal said her death was a great loss to the health sector. “Dr Seemin Jamali’s services during Covid-19 [pandemic] would never be forgotten,” observed the foreign minister. The Sindh CM remembered her as a “brave and determined woman” while the provincial health minister remarked that she had rendered tremendous services in the field of health. “Dr Seemin Jamali’s services in the health sector and her administrative services at the JPMC would be remembered forever,” observed Dr Azra.