- Advertisement -
RAWALPINDI, Apr 09 (APP):President of Al-Shifa Trust (AST) Eye Hospital Maj Gen (Retd) Rehmat Khan, said Wednesday that AST has treated more than 30 million people and conducted over one million eye surgeries since its beginning.
He speaking to the media that 80 percent of procedures were provided free of cost, enabling millions of eye patients to become productive members of society.
Rehmat stated that approximately one hundred thousand people visit AST OPDs monthly, and “We conduct nearly 10,000 surgeries per month.”
The AST president noted that deserving patients previously had to submit Zakat forms for free treatment. However, these conditions have long been waived to preserve the dignity and self-respect of low-income people.
Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Rehmat Khan emphasized that AST has created a network of state-of-the-art hospitals and mobile eye clinics that reach even the country’s most isolated areas, driven by the goal of eradicating avoidable blindness.
“Whether a child in a rural village struggles to see the blackboard or an elderly farmer loses sight of cataracts, we ensure that no one is left behind,” he underlined.
He informed that AST’s dedicated doctors, paramedics, and volunteers worked tirelessly to provide compassionate care, often traveling miles to deliver life-changing services to those in need.
“AST doesn’t merely treat symptoms; it builds sustainable solutions”, he said and added that from advanced research initiatives to training the next generation of ophthalmologists, “We invest in a future where blindness caused by preventable diseases becomes a thing of the past.”
Rehmat Khan called upon overseas Pakistanis to get state-of-the-art eye treatment in Pakistan as AST services were on par with those provided by the leading US or EU hospitals, and there was no difference between the free, paid, and semi-paid services at AST-run hospitals.
He informed that nearly 80 percent of patients receive free treatment in all trust-run hospitals in Rawalpindi, Chakwal, Kohat, Sukkur, Muzaffarabad, and Gilgit, while Lahore Hospital will start by 2027 and provide services to almost 20 million people.