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RAWALPINDI, Nov 12 (APP):The construction of Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital in Haveli Lakha, Okara, has entered its final phase, with inauguration planned for March next year.
President of Al-Shifa Trust, Maj. Gen. (Retd) Rehmat Khan told reporters that all major construction work had been completed, with finishing touches still underway. He said the hospital would cater to patients from Haveli Lakha, Depalpur, Pakpatan, Sahiwal, and Bahawalnagar areas, long deprived of specialized eye treatment.
Built on two acres of donated land, the facility will provide free eye care to thousands of residents across South Punjab, where over 1.8 million Pakistanis live with blindness, 85 per cent of which is considered avoidable, he informed.
Maj. Gen. (Retd) Rehmat Khan added that nearly half of all blindness cases in Pakistan stem from cataracts, a condition largely treatable through routine surgery. However, rural populations continue to face severe shortages of trained staff and modern surgical facilities, he noted.
The hospital is designed to serve up to 250 outdoor and indoor patients daily. Staff training and procurement of state-of-the-art equipment are in progress. The total project cost stands at Rs162 million — Rs122 million for construction and Rs40 million for equipment. The land and construction costs were fully donated by a local doctor, while Al-Shifa Trust will manage operations.
The trust president said the new facility would help reduce the patient load on major hospitals in larger cities. He noted that the expansion reflected Al-Shifa’s ongoing efforts to enhance healthcare access in remote areas by ensuring early diagnosis and treatment closer to home.
Local officials and residents have welcomed the development, terming it a significant relief for communities in Okara and Sahiwal. For many low-income families, especially those with daily-wage earners, the hospital will mean shorter travel times and lower treatment expenses.
Al-Shifa Trust currently operates eye hospitals in Rawalpindi, Sukkur, Kohat, Muzaffarabad, Gilgit, and Chakwal. It screened more than 175,000 schoolchildren through over 550 free eye camps last year and aims to reach over two million patients and perform 120,000 surgeries in the coming year, about 80 per cent of them free of cost.