RAWALPINDI, JUN 17: /DNA/ – Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital has formally started construction of its new Lahore facility, planned as Asia’s most modern eye hospital, marking a major expansion of its efforts to provide specialized eye care to millions of people.
President Al-Shifa Trust Maj. Gen. (Retd) Rehmat Khan described the project as a significant milestone in the Trust’s mission to expand access to quality eye care and reduce preventable blindness across Pakistan.
The Trust has awarded the construction contract to a Lahore-based firm, with the agreement requiring completion of the grey structure within 13 months, with provisions to discourage delays.
A commencement ceremony was held at the project site, where Al-Shifa Trust officials, engineers, consultants, and construction staff prayed for the successful completion of the hospital.
Maj. Gen. (Retd) Rehmat Khan informed that the hospital is being built on 70 kanals of land provided by the Punjab government on the Ring Road, Raiwind. The state-of-the-art facility will feature 20 modern operation theatres and will provide advanced treatment for a wide range of eye diseases.
Once operational, the hospital is expected to serve around 20 million people and treat more than 600,000 patients annually. Free treatment will be available for deserving and underprivileged patients, continuing the Trust’s policy of ensuring access to quality eye care regardless of a patient’s ability to pay.
The project comes at a time when vision impairment remains a major public health challenge in Pakistan. More than 26 million people live with blindness or partial vision impairment, placing the country sixth globally in terms of vision-loss burden. Cataract accounts for more than half of all blindness cases, while the vast majority of cases are considered avoidable, and Central Punjab has the highest prevalence of blindness in the country.
Over the past 35 years, Al-Shifa Trust has grown from treating just 25 patients a day to more than 5,000 patients daily. It operates seven eye hospitals in Rawalpindi, Sukkur, Kohat, Muzaffarabad, Chakwal, Gilgit, and Haveli Lakha. It has also conducted more than 15,000 free screening and surgical camps in remote and underserved areas, bringing eye care to communities with limited access to medical facilities.
Between 80 and 90 percent of patients receive treatment free of charge. The Lahore hospital is expected to further strengthen efforts to reduce avoidable blindness and improve access to modern eye care services.
The trust also organized a fundraising event featuring performances by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Ustad Noor Buksh, where philanthropists contributed one hundred million rupees to the project.
