Rs50 million collected at iftar-dinner for SKMCH

F.P Report

PESHAWAR: The Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust (SKMT) organised a fundraising iftar dinner in Peshawar as part of its ongoing Zakat campaign. A large number of donors and supporters attended the event where Rs. 50 million were collected.

On this occasion, Dr Aasim Yusuf, Chief Medical Officer of SKMT gave an overview of the ongoing projects of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust, “Since 1994, we have provided financially supported treatment worth Rs. 88 billion to deserving cancer patients.

At SKMCH&RC, we have always taken all possible steps to ensure that the utilisation of Zakat complies with Islamic injunctions. Zakat funds are spent on the treatment of deserving patients, and are completely exhausted on providing direct patient care within the same year. SKMCH&RC has also received Shariah compliance certification confirming that its Zakat processes are in line with Islamic principles.”

He went on to say that all cancer treatment modalities are available at Shaukat Khanum Hospital in Peshawar. He added, “Since close to 30 percent of patients seen at our Lahore hospital were from the Khyber Pakthunkhwa (KPK) province and from neighbouring Afghanistan, our second hospital opened in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in 2015.

We achieved Joint Commission International accreditation in 2018 (Lahore) and 2019 (Peshawar), and JCI Enterprise Accreditation for our entire organisation in 2022. In September 2023, our hospitals were certified by the Quality in Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI) Certification Program, which is associated with the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). These achievements demonstrate that the same high quality cancer treatment is available in SKMCH&RC in Peshawar as in Lahore.”

Dr Aasim Yusuf shared that over 75% of cancer patients across SKMT facilities receive free of charge treatment and in SKMCH&RC, Peshawar specifically, this percentage is as high as 93% and all this is made possible due to the generosity of the people of Pakistan. Due to the prevailing economic situation, more people are expected to require financially supported cancer treatment. For these reasons, SKMT needs everyone’s support more than ever before to continue the miracle of hope for cancer patients.