Al-Shifa Trust Treats 1.8 Million in a Year, Expands Eye Care Services Nationwide

APP

Islamabad: Al-Shifa Trust treated over 1.8 million patients in the past year, including 100,000 surgeries, as part of its ongoing mission to eliminate preventable blindness across Pakistan, President Major General (Retd) Rehmat Khan announced on Sunday.

Speaking at a press briefing at the National Press Club, he said nearly 83 percent of all patients were treated free of cost. “Every day, we carry out between 450 and 500 surgical procedures,” he noted, adding that Al-Shifa also performs around 1,000 corneal transplants annually—roughly half of the total in the country. He highlighted that Al-Shifa is the only eye hospital chain offering free treatment for eye cancer in Pakistan.

The Trust, which started in 1985 as a modest initiative, has grown into the country’s largest humanitarian eye care network. “From treating just 25 patients a day to 5,000 today, our journey reflects a sustained commitment to accessible healthcare,” Khan said.

Al-Shifa is currently building what is expected to be Pakistan’s largest and most modern eye hospital in Lahore, designed by an American architectural firm, with groundbreaking scheduled for September 2025. The Trust’s expansion also includes hospitals in Haweli Lakha and Gilgit-Baltistan. The facility in Haweli Lakha is nearing completion, while construction is ongoing in GB, with temporary operations already underway.

Khan stressed the urgency of addressing the country’s eye health crisis, with nearly two million people facing preventable blindness—80 percent of which is curable. “An estimated 12.64 million people, 61 percent of them women, face difficulties with reading and close-up tasks due to lack of access to basic reading glasses,” he said.

Refractive errors and diabetic retinopathy are among the leading causes of vision loss, exacerbated by poor hygiene, air pollution, lack of awareness, financial barriers, and limited facilities, he added.

Technological advancements and strategic expansions, such as the Chakwal hospital upgrade—which boosted daily patient capacity from 150 to 650—have improved the Trust’s ability to serve underserved regions, Khan said.

He also urged financially stable patients to contribute to the mission. “While many patients cannot afford treatment, those who can must step forward to support this cause,” he appealed.

Dr. Najam, General Manager of the Outreach Program, shared the scale of the Trust’s rural outreach, revealing that approximately 1,500 free eye camps were organized last year across all provinces, including Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. These camps provided eye care services to over 650,000 people in remote areas.

“Our outreach program ensures that quality eye treatment, including surgeries, reaches the unreached,” Dr. Najam said.

Earlier, officials from the National Press Club acknowledged the Trust’s support for the journalist community. They noted that hundreds of journalists had received treatment and surgeries through Al-Shifa’s state-of-the-art mobile clinics, where free glasses and medicines were also distributed.