At a time when cartels of a diverse variety at will are pocketing billions at the cost of compounding the voiceless common man’s financial miseries, still there are people who think about and spend money for the poor and needy.
A noble idea conceived not long ago, is turning into a reality with donations from kind-hearted souls and the first state-of-the-art 60-bed hospital will be operational within next few weeks. Situated in Pothohar region, Bewal International Hospital (BIH) at Bewal Town in Tehsil Gujar Khan of Rawalpindi District, will cover a population of 300,000, said Dr Attiqur Rehman, Chairman Abdur Rehman Trust while speaking at a news briefing.
The hospital has been constructed with donations from Pothohar-based community, living in England. He pointed out that the hospital would provide health services to the people in need. Bewal-born Dr Attiq is a consultant surgeon in Russells Hall Hospital, Dudley, West Midlands, UK. He added that the work on the hospital started in 2005 and in coming few days its first phase would become operational and by next year it would become fully operational.
The hospital is situated in Bewal, a small town approximately 80 kilometre from Islamabad. It is situated on the eastern border of Gujar Khan in Rawalpindi. The town is a hugely crowded with a population of over 100,000 and in the area, there are some basic health facilities provided by central government but this is not sufficient for the need of local people.
There are only few state-funded basic health centres in the remote rural areas with poor medical facilities.
Immigrants from Bewal
settled in UK are very keen
and enthusiastic for the provision of good quality health service to the people of their native city.
He said that the charity hospital would serve not only the local population of Bewal but also cover the Pothohar region with a total population of over 300,000. Replying to a question, Dr Attiq noted most of the services in the hospital would be free for the poor and needy patients but to meet the running cost of the hospital, the affording patients would be charged at a minimum cost.
BIH is a project of Abdul Rehman Memorial Trust, a charity registered with the charity commission in United Kingdom and it would be responsible for management of the hospital. Dr Attiq said this is a very noble cause and a project for needy and deserving poor people who lack the basic health facilities. On humanitarian basis, our hearts and efforts go to the deserving population who will benefit from the hospital.
To a question, Dr Attiq said that the cost of the entire project has reached UK pound 1,500,000 and the bulk of the funds has been collected through donations from Pothohari community in UK.
To a question, he stated that they had not sought any help from the government so far, but he appealed that
tax-free import of the hospital equipment should be allowed.
Chaudhry Muhammad Ishtiaq, Pervez Chaudhry, Waqar Malik, Chaudhry Iftikhar Ali and Chaudhry Majid Nadeem, who had specially come from UK in connection with the inauguration of the hospital, were also present during the press conference. A tinge of happiness and relief was visible on their faces, as the details of the project were released before media. Hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis living in European countries, the Middle East and other regions are welcome to come forward to contribute for provision of relief to the hapless and needy, who hardly get attention at government hospitals but they can’t afford private treatment.
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