SKMT Karachi all set to open by December next year: PM Imran

Prime Minister Imran Khan revealed on Wednesday that the construction of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust Hospital (SKMT) in Karachi was going according to schedule and the facility is all set to open by December next year.

"This will be twice as big as the Lahore SKMT and will be equipped with state of the art equipment," the premier said on Twitter whilst sharing pictures of the hospital site.

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On April 28, it was reported that SKMT had emerged as a model institution, providing quality healthcare for all patients, regardless of their socio-economic status.

It runs the country’s only two tertiary care cancer centres, both accredited by the Joint Commission International, a testimony to the untiring efforts of the institution to provide quality healthcare as a right and not a privilege. Over 75 per cent of cancer patients receive treatment completely free of charge at all the treatment facilities of the SKMT.

It has spent over Rs53 billion on the treatment of deserving cancer patients since the inception of the first Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre.

Some notable recent projects are Pakistan’s biggest cancer hospital that is under construction in Karachi and a new clinical tower, the largest expansion of the hospital in Lahore.

For 2021, the annual budget for the SKMT is Rs19 billion, and nearly half of it is expected to be collected as Zakat and donations.