Mansehra: A US-based charity founded by Pakistani-American physicians has revived a health centre abandoned for years in a remote Mansehra village, with support from Doctors Worldwide and donations from the family and friends of a late Pakistani-American orthopaedic surgeon.
The Sehat Center in Reerh Galla was formally inaugurated on Sunday. Members of the Ahmed Family Trust, which was established by relatives of the late Dr Khalid Bashir Ahmed, travelled from the United States for the ceremony. They included his wife and brothers. Dr Khalid was born in Mansehra and died in the United States a couple of years ago.
Doctors Worldwide established the facility after the 2005 earthquake, but it remained abandoned for years because of financial constraints and a shortage of staff.
“Today, with donations from the family of Dr Khalid Bashir Ahmed, a Pakistani-American orthopaedic surgeon born in Mansehra who died in the US a couple of years ago, we have inaugurated the Sehat Center in Reerh Galla village,” said Dr Salman Naqvi, founder of Shine Humanity.
Dr Salman said the family had pledged to donate $5,000 a month to run the centre. Shine Humanity would arrange the remaining funds from other Pakistani-Americans and philanthropists.
Shine Humanity was founded by Pakistani-American pulmonologist Dr Salman Naqvi and his wife, endocrinologist Dr Farzana Naqvi. The organisation now runs around 20 health facilities, mostly in rural Sindh, including Karachi, Tharparkar and other districts.
Former Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza, a public health expert, said he and Dr Tariq Cheema, a Pakistani-American physician and member of the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America (APPNA), had invited Shine Humanity in early 2024 to take over the facility. Two years later, he said, the organisation had transformed it.
Dr Zafar said the partnership between the centre and the Ahmed Family Trust honoured the legacy of Dr Khalid Bashir Ahmed. The trust would support the centre financially alongside Doctors Worldwide, he said, adding that they hoped to extend quality primary healthcare to more underserved families across the country.
At Dr Zafar’s request, Shine Humanity has also pledged to establish a public healthcare facility near the Taxila-Khanpur area, where residents lack access to quality healthcare.
Shine Humanity Chief Executive Officer Faheem Khan said Dr Zafar and Dr Tariq had brought the facility to the organisation’s attention and asked it to revive the centre to serve local residents.
The centre has treated more than 34,400 patients since it began operations, Faheem said. Its community health workers have reached more than 8,700 households.
The centre offers five programmes: asthma and COPD treatment, malnutrition treatment, family planning, tuberculosis treatment and community outreach.
The organisation plans to upgrade the laboratory and introduce dental services, Faheem said. It also intends to expand its diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidaemia programme and increase the number of community health workers.
Former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister and governor Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan Abbasi attended the ceremony as chief guest and thanked those supporting healthcare in the area.
He said he was impressed by the local community’s role, with around 9,000 households engaged with the centre. The doctors, nurses and paramedics working there also belong to the local community, he added.