PESHAWAR: Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan along with cancer patient Fakhir Afridi inaugurated the second Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre in Hayatabad Peshawar.

Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan, Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Perveiz Khattak, provincial leaders Shah Farman, Minister for elementary education Atif Khan and Shahram Tarakai were present at the ceremony. Heavy contingents of police and other security forces were summoned to monitor the situation while Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) operations himself inspected the checking process.

Addressing on the occasion Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan said that he was waiting for this glorious occasion to inaugurate Shuakat Khanum Peshawar and today his dream had materialized after inaugurating second largest cancer hospital in the country.

He said the construction of Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was one of his biggest dreams. He vowed that the hospital will not only provide better facilities to the residents of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa  but also to the people of remote areas of the country.

He added that nothing is impossible to achieve if one works with sincerity. He said that it was too difficult to collect this huge amount of fund for this cancer hospital edifice but it was God mercy that the hospital was completed with generous support of the masses.

PTI chief said that Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital Peshawar will act as a role model for all the hospitals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said that the authorities have been able to raise funds for SKMCH Peshawar only because of the unmatched performance of Shaukat Khanum Lahore.

Ajmal Khan, the facility’s fundraising manager said that Rs3.2 billion has been spent on the construction of the eight-storey building. Eight months on: Feasibility study for capital’s first cancer hospital yet to be completed.

He added the chemotherapy faculty was set up in the first phase to treat patients in the initial stages of cancer. According to Ajmal, cancer radiation therapy would be set up in the second phase and surgery facilities will be established in the third phase. He said another Rs4 billion would be needed to complete the second and third phases.

The SKMCH Peshawar has a total covered area of about 82 Kanal while its treatment facility will be larger than Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital Lahore. There would be 20 chemotherapy beds, six emergency room beds, 12 admission beds, two intensive care unit beds, radiology services, including mammography, plain radiology and ultrasonography and pathology laboratory at the hospital.