Noted gastroenterologist Dr Ikramullah dies of corona

PESHAWAR: Noted gastroenterologist Prof Dr Ikramullah Khan died of coronavirus and was laid to rest in his native Bedara village of Matta subdivision in Swat district on Wednesday.

Prof Dr Ikramullah Khan had been admitted to the Northwest General Hospital in Peshawar. He had also practiced at the same hospital for the last several years.

A large number of people from various walks of life attended his funeral prayers. A foreign qualified and having served in the public sector hospitals for quite a long time, Dr Ikramullah Khan had resigned from his government job in 2001 in protest along with hundreds of other qualified doctors when the then governor Gen (r) Iftikhar Hussain Shah introduced new laws in the health sector, making it mandatory for the doctors to shift their private clinics to the hospitals’ premises.

Prof Ikramullah Khan was known for evidence-based practice and helpful to poor patients.

He would never charge the poor patients coming to his clinic from different places, including Afghanistan, and would happily pay for their medications from his pocket.

Patients used to come to him from remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Prof Ikramullah Khan belonged to a respectable and educated family in Nal village of Bedar town in upper Swat. His family background had a deep impact on his personality as Prof Ikramullah was very polite and soft-spoken.

His father Nisar Mohammad Khan, also known as Khkuley Khan (beautiful Khan) in his native Matta subdivision, served in the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and died in Saudi Arabia where he had been sent on deputation.