Lahore: Leading philanthropists from Lahore on Sunday pledged major financial support for a large charitable hospital being built in Karachi that aims to provide free treatment to at least 200,000 poor and deserving patients every year, as Pakistan’s deepening healthcare crisis continues to push millions out of private hospitals.
The commitments were announced at a fundraising event organised by Imamia Medics International (IMI) in Lahore for its flagship University Medical Complex, a multi-specialty tertiary care hospital planned near the University of Karachi.
Once completed, the facility is expected to grow into one of the country’s largest charity-run hospitals, with the capacity to treat up to one million patients annually.
The gathering was told that the Karachi-based complex would provide emergency, trauma, women and child health, and specialist medical services free of cost to patients who cannot afford private healthcare, at a time when rising medical bills and shrinking public sector capacity have made access to treatment increasingly difficult for low- and middle-income families.
Speaking as guest of honour, former Government College University Lahore vice-chancellor Prof Dr Asghar Zaidi said the University Medical Complex represented a sustainable and long-term solution for Pakistan’s healthcare needs, particularly for families who had been left behind by the existing system.
He said IMI had already completed more than 80 humanitarian health projects in 29 countries and was running a network of clinics in some of Pakistan’s most deprived communities, adding that donors could be confident their money would be used with transparency and accountability.
Dr Zaidi also warned that Pakistan’s high infant mortality and child stunting rates were a silent national emergency and that facilities like the University Medical Complex were essential if those trends were to be reversed.
Religious minority leaders at the event also expressed support for the project. Bishop Nadeem Kamran, representing the Christian community in Punjab, said providing healthcare to the poor was one of the highest forms of service and praised IMI for committing to treat patients without discrimination of faith, sect or background.
IMI founder Dr Wajih Rizvi told participants that the Karachi complex had been designed as a complete healthcare ecosystem, combining emergency care, specialist services, maternal and child health and treatment for both infectious and chronic diseases. In later phases, he said, the facility would also become a centre for medical education, training and research.
“With Karachi becoming one of the world’s largest cities, the gap between the demand for healthcare and what is available is widening every year,” Dr Rizvi said. “Private hospitals are simply out of reach for millions of families. This project is meant to fill that gap.”
He said IMI currently runs 25 free clinics across Pakistan that provide treatment to around 150,000 patients annually and that the experience gained from those clinics had shaped the design of the University Medical Complex.
Dr Rizvi also recalled IMI’s role in emergency responses during the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, recent floods and the Haiti earthquake, saying the organisation had consistently worked on the frontlines of humanitarian crises.
Qazi Qazim Raza, president of Anjuman Hussainia Narowal, announced full support from his organisation for the Karachi hospital and other IMI healthcare initiatives.
Former IMI Pakistan president Prof Dr Mulazim Hussain Bokhari, who hosted the event, said projects like the University Medical Complex were critical if quality healthcare was to become available to ordinary Pakistanis rather than remaining a privilege of the wealthy.
The fundraiser ended with donors pledging to back the Karachi hospital as a national project aimed at giving millions of people access to treatment they would otherwise never be able to afford.
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