Sundas Foundation plans to set up hospital

LAHORE:Sundas Foundation, largely known for its free-of-cost services, has 6,000 registered thalassemic patients. The organisation plans to build a multi-storey hospital in Lahore for general, hemophilia, thalassemia and blood cancer patients. It will also have a dialysis facility.

Khalid Abbas Dar, winner of three of four civilian awards in the country, Hilal-e-Imtiaz, Sitara-e-Imtiaz and Pride of Performance, is one of the directors of Sundas Foundation working voluntarily for the great cause. The News learnt from him that the new hospital will have departments of dentistry, gynae, physiotherapy, eye and ENT. It will offer subsidised lab facilities.

Sundas Foundation does blood transfusion. It is collecting and screening blood for free and has a large pool of blood donors. They are university and college students, police and air force personnel other than people in general. All air force bases in the country, Punjab police, motorway police, highway police and railways police in the province had signed an MoU with the organisation. They are all blood donors.

Known most for blood transfusions to thalassemic patients, 30-50 children and adults get blood transfusion on a daily basis in Sundas Foundation’s Lahore station alone. The organisation also does investigation, gives medication and money to deserving patients for transport. There are doctors available morning and evening to check the patients. Food is cooked here on a regular basis and is available to children. Patients come here from outside Lahore as well. They usually arrive at night. Chairs are opened for them for their overnight stay. They too are fed. What is amazing is that all the blood transfusion, screening, investigation, medication and doctors are 100 percent free, not only in Lahore but also in Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat, Faisalabad, Wazirabad, Hafizabad and Islamabad.

Ali Rauf, a founder member, who looks after the affairs of Sundas Foundation in Lahore, said the foundation is planning to open its centres in KP and South Punjab as well. Muhammad Yasin Khan took the initiative to establish Sundas Foundation in 1998. “Things are looking bright for the last five to six years. We have struggled hard for 20 years,” said Ali Rauf.

“Munnu Bhai would go with the Sundas team everywhere to promote the cause, he would talk to people. His contribution is invaluable,” he said. At present journalist Suhail Warraich is on the board of directors.

The donors are businessmen, technocrats, doctors and many others. The amazingly dedicated staff, workers and directors of the foundation make sure everyone who comes to them gets blood. There is a state-of-the-art laboratory where blood is screened and stored. Blood is administered after screening for Hepatitis B, C, HIV, malaria and syphilis. “Humans have a blood reserve in the body. We ask for only a bag of blood. People can give blood till 55 years if they don’t have any disease,” said Khalid Abbas Dar.