RAWALPINDI, MAR 20 /DNA/ – The Al-Shifa Trust President Maj. Gen. (Retd) Rehmat Khan has said that due to the increase in diabetes, and unawareness the number of eye patients is increasing significantly in Pakistan, therefore, we have planned to double our capacity over the next five years to better serve the masses.

The expansion will not only increase our capacity but we will also improve procedures, enhance overall care, and ensure better accessibility, safety, and delivery of service, he said while sharing his vision with the media persons.

Maj. Gen. (Retd) Rehmat Khan said that under the “Vision 2028” we will boost patient care to new heights from the time the patient enters the hospital until discharge, he said, adding that we have designed the expansion in such a manner that all processes take place next to each other creating an easy flow and minimizing patient movement.

He said that we have planned to double the scope of services from the current level of 1.3 million patients annually to 2.5 million in our five hospitals located in Rawalpindi, Chakwal, Kohat, Muzaffarabad, and Sukkar.

The president of the trust informed that a new block is under construction at Chakwal Hospital and a full-fledged hospital has been planned in Quetta.

A camping structure is to be set up in Gilgit to provide free treatment to the people of remote areas of Gilgit-Baltistan and the establishment of low-vision departments in Lahore and Karachi is on the cards.

Giving more details, he said that outreach teams are added to the Sukkar and Kohat eye hospitals expanding free eye camps throughout the country.

Mobile health vehicles have been arranged to give pick-and-drop services to the poor patients of rural areas of Rawalpindi, Chakwal, Sukkar, and Kohat, he added.

After the basic screening, patients will be brought to the hospitals for complete treatment that will include free medicine, free night stay, and meals and patients would be dropped at their homes after the procedure.

He informed that during the last three decades, the trust has treated 30 million patients, a service worth Rs13 billion while thousands of these patients were suffering from glaucoma, catric, and cancer.

He said that the government should come forward and upgrade eye treatment facilities at the district level to handle the increasing number of eye patients.