Alumni’s gift ‘to provide hope for paediatric patients’ at AKUH

Karachi  

The Aga Khan University Medical College’s Class of 1999 has donated $350,000 for an Endowment Fund for child care, which will allow the Aga Khan University Hospital to provide financial assistance and support to needy children from semi-urban and rural communities in Pakistan.

At the gift-signing agreement ceremony, AKU President Firoz Rasul said the gift came at a particularly fitting time in the university’s history. “We have the medical professionals and facilities that allow us to treat premature babies, infants and children with very complex health problems. This contribution to our endowment will help us in treating the sickest and most fragile babies in our Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the only one of its kind in Pakistan.”

He noted that since 2013, the university hospital has provided Rs 30.5 million to over 3,200 children to access quality healthcare. Spearheaded by the Class of 1999 representative, Dr Babar Hasan, and assisted by Dr Rizwan Khalid, Dr Sharmeen Feerasta, Dr Kamran Karimi and Dr Shabana Naz, and the support of 67 percent of the class, the Paediatric Welfare Endowment will provide hope for the thousands of children in Pakistan, both as hospital patients and in the clinics. 

It will support children who require heart surgery at the AKUH, which is the only centre performing complex surgeries using minimally invasive approaches. Dr Hasan noted, “Paediatric care is most neglected in developing countries. This is why the Class of 1999 decided to support the Paediatric Welfare Fund.”