Imran Khan launches second Pak cancer hospital

Islamabad, Dec 29: Pakistan's cricketer-turned- politician Imran Khan today inaugurated a second cancer hospital in the northwestern city of Peshawar which he built with the help of donations. A young cancer patient Fakhir Afridi with Khan inaugurated the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre in Peshawar.

The first Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre was set up in 1994 in Lahore in the memory of Khan's mother who died of cancer.

The hospital is a leading health institution in the country which provides free treatment to poor patients. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Khan said "construction of a state-of-the-art cancer hospital in Peshawar was a dream which has now come true".

"The construction of this hospital is a miracle and everyone, regardless of his social standing, will be treated at the hospital," he added.

"Not only the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa populace, but people belonging to the remotest areas of the country will get medical treatment in this hospital. Nothing is impossible if you work with dedication and courage," he said.

Later Khan wrote on Twitter that opening of the Peshawar hospital was "the happiest day of my life". "Thanks to the generosity of the people of Pakistan, the Rs 4 billion Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Peshawar was built in under 3 years.

It will be the most modern hospital in Pakistan," Khan said in another tweet. Located in Hayatabad area of Peshawar, the eight-storey hospital will have 20 chemotherapy beds, six emergency room beds, 12 admission beds, two intensive care unit beds, radiology services including mammography, plain radiology and ultrasonography and a pathology laboratory.

PTI