KMC upgraded to university level

PESHAWAR: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Wednesday inaugurated the 46th Annual Winter Meeting of the Association of Physicians of Pakistani-descent of North America (APPNA), being held here from December 20th to 23rd.

Speaking at a ceremony in the Governor’s House, he also announced the upgrading of Khyber Medical College (KMC) to a medical university and asked the caretaker chief minister and the governor to complete the paperwork in the next few days and get it done.

Caretaker Chief Minister Justice (retired) Syed Arshad Hussain Shah had last week in Abbottabad announced the upgrading of (KMC) Peshawar and Ayub Medical College (AMC) Abbottabad to the status of medical universities. It was learnt that he had made an announcement on the directives of the prime minister.

The ceremony at the Governor’s House was attended by Governor Ghulam Ali and caretaker Chief Minister Arshad Hussain Shah, APPNA President Dr Arshad Rehan and a number of APPNA members and their families.

The prime minister appreciated the role played by APPNA over the years. He termed the APPNA members some of the best people the country had produced and they were performing great services to their motherland in the United States and Canada. He termed them the best ambassadors of the country abroad.

The prime minister said that he was personally touched by the cohesiveness of APPNA as a family when his sister was diagnosed with terminal cancer in the USA. He said that he came to realize the true importance of Pakistani physicians while interacting with common Americans in the United States.

Many of them would tell him that they knew Pakistan and its people because they had had a Pakistani doctor treating them.Kakar fondly recalled his time in Peshawar as a student. He said he considered Khyber Pakhtunkhwa his second home and if he ever had to settle anywhere other than Quetta, he would choose Peshawar.

The prime minister said he wished to give APPNA a role in healthcare policy and implementation in the country as the government was working to overcome legislative hurdles in this regard and hoped that this would be accomplished soon.

Earlier, the APPNA president thanked the prime minister for his presence. Dr. He gave a brief overview of the activities of the association.Dr Arshad Rehan highlighted the philanthropic role of the organization. He talked about APPNA’s relief activities with calamities like the floods, IDP crisis of Swat, earthquake relief and the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said that APPNA built over 1000 houses for the floods affectees of 2022. More than a million dollars were donated by APPNA members to Pakistan during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr Arshad Rehan recalled how during the COVID-19 pandemic the APPNA teams from the USA helped with care of the critically ill patients in Pakistan through assuming their care via videolinks.

Another flagship project of APPNA that was mentioned was its cornea donation programme. More than 5000 corneas have so far been donated to Pakistan and transplanted free of cost to deserving patients.

Being a graduate of the KMC, Dr. Rehan recalled that it was in 1989 when the then prime minister Benazir Bhutto had announced plans for upgrading the college to the level of a university. Unfortunately, the promise remained unfulfilled even after 34 years. He requested the PM to materialize the promise.

President of Khyber Medical College of Alumni Association of North America, Dr. Sharif-uz-Zaman Khan welcomed the participants. The dean of Khyber Medical College, Dr. Mahmud Aurangzeb also spoke on the occasion.

Meanwhile, Adviser on Health Prof Dr Riaz Anwar said the KMC had produced the best graduates since its inception in 1955 and they were now serving all over the world, earning a name for the institution as well as the country. He was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of 46th winter meeting of the APPNA.

Dr Riaz Anwar said that it was a matter of pride for the KMC that its graduate, Dr Arshad Rehan, was presently heading APPNA.“We are grateful to Dr Arshad Rehan as he used to bring cardiologists from the US to Peshawar when there were bomb explosions on a regular basis in the city. It was a time when nobody was willing to visit Peshawar but he used to regularly come and bring other doctors as well,” he recalled.

Dr Riaz Anwar said that Dr Arshad Rehan contributed to the services of the cardiac patients by providing pacemakers and other equipment to the Cardiology Department of the Lady Reading Hospital.

The adviser asked Dr Arshad Rehan to increase the number of KMC students in the students’ exchange programme to the US.Dr Riaz Anwar highlighted the unwavering commitment of Prof Dr Syed Amjad Hussain, a widely known figure, prominent cardiac surgeon and KMC’s first graduate, to academic research and clinical practice, expressing his pleasure in witnessing the remarkable success of KMC after four decades.