Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospitals

Aimed at self-reliance of each component of A-Shifa Trust both in terms of financial stability and sustained human resource development, our focus is now on Al-Shifa eye hospital Sukkur. The doctors and paramedics working there are fully tuned into fine professionals under a regular training program being conducted at Rawalpindi Hospital. In addition, we have now started developing Pakistan Institute of Ophthalmology (PIO) at Sukkur which will cater for the needs of hospital as well as the region. We are grateful to Syed Ejaz Ali, chairman of Al-Muhaimen Faiz-e-Aam Trust – and a great philanthropist, who has offered generous donation for the construction of PIO Sukkur. The construction will be completed at the cost of Rs. 60 million by the end of 2009.


Syed Ejaz Ali is briefed about the construction of PIO Sukkur by Dr. Waqar Pathan, Ms, Sukkur Hospital	Syed Ejaz Ali during a briefing on Sukkur Hospital

For income generation, Sukkur hospital is building a fuel station, the planning for which has completed and it will be ready by the end of the year. The cost will be Rs. 40 million.

Pakistan Institute of Ophthalmology forges ahead in human resource development

Competitive induction and outstanding results in postgraduate exam.
- “I find Al-Shifa candidates appearing for post-grad exam second to none in the country” commented one of the examiners at the recently conducted post-graduate exam by Quaid-e-Azam University. The high quality of training always attracts large number of candidates from all over Pakistan. This year was no different as the competition was very tough and candidates selected were outstanding.
Student’s residential complex completed at Rawalpindi:
- Under PIO five-year development plan, to cater for the accommodation of national and international students, PIO residential complex has recently been completed at the cost of Rs. 30 million. The total accommodation for boys and girls students is now for 120 national and 32 international students. In addition the hostel also caters for accommodation of our international guests and visitors.

First International Eye Paramedics Conference:

For the first time in the history of Pakistan, a two-day international conference for Allied Ophthalmic Professionals was held at Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital Rawalpindi on 27-28 April 2008. It was attended by over 100 optometrists, technicians and nurses from all over Pakistan. The international speakers from UK included Dr. Shehzad Naroo, Assistant Professor of Optometry, Aston University and Vice President of International Association of Contact Lens Educators and Mr. Frank Epergesi who is on the international panel of examiners in optometry.

Speakers at the Paramedics Conference with Dr. Shehzad Naroo from Aston Univeristy

NAVTEC comes in to support our Paramedics training program:

National Vocational Training and Education Commission, Govt. of Pakistan has indicated their willingness to support some of the training programs run by our National Academy of Paramedics. This will help further in bringing in those talented students who cannot continue with such highly skillful training programs due to economic reasons. Previously this support came from Lions Clubs International under a 3 years project which successfully completed in June this year.

Progress of Income generating Project

In view of the economic recession and rapid escalation of cost of living, Al-Shifa has finally decided to go ahead on its own with its mega project of multi-storey tower for self-reliance. The selection of consultant, contractor and experienced architect is in progress and the process will be completed by October, while the construction will start by early next year. The cost is estimated to be around Rs. 1.5 billion. Any friend of Al-Shifa interested to participate in this project can contact Al-Shifa Trust for details like equity share etc. Once completed in four years time, this facility will have the potential to contribute towards 75% of the budget of Al-Shifa Trust. Project committee is headed by President Al-Shifa and includes former Engineer-in-Chief of Pak Army –Gen Zubair along with host of engineers and other members experienced in management of such projects.

Muzaffarabad Hospital construction in progress

An Architect's View of Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital Muzaffarabad

Year 2008 is the most challenging year for Al-Shifa due to launching of many important projects like construction of Muzaffarabad Hospital, expansion of existing hospitals and income-generating projects. Keeping in mind maximum economy and mobilization of resources, Al-Shifa Board of Trustees has approved a record budget of Rs. 501,916,000 (Five hundred million). Internal receipts have been estimated at around 170 million. The large deficit will be mostly catered for through external receipts of Rs. 280 million in the form of donations and grants. The financial autonomy ratio has dipped an all-time low (27%). That is why our self-reliance projects have assumed an added importance.

Al-Shifa approves record budget for year 2008-009

The construction work for Muzaffarabad hospital has just been started. The construction work is undertaken by Frontier Works Organization (FWO) and will be completed in one and a half years time. FWO has previously also built our Kohat Hospital. This hospital will cost about Rs. 250 million. The hospital will be on the same standard as Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital Rawalpindi, which is the mother Hospital and would provide comprehensive eye care services to the people of AJK, as well as to the Northern Areas like Gilgit etc.. Al-Shifa Trust is already popular here because most of the eye patients from here are regularly treated at its Rawalpindi Hospital and moreover its community outreach program is conducting free eye camps in the far flung areas of AJK screening and treating thousands of patients at the camps.

Employees get multiple incentives to face galloping inflation

With increasing inflation and prices skyrocketing, Al-Shifa Trust has fully taken care of its employees by a series of benefits and significant pay rise. The 10% pay rise is for all the employees of Al-Shifa Trust and will become permanent part of current salary. Although this will overburden the kitty, but it will certainly help a lot in addressing the financial hardships. In addition, multiple incentives are also part of this package like further subsidy on food and accommodation for employees, free pick & drop facility, free medical facility and old age benefits etc. All these incentives combined have made the Al-Shifa salary package more competitive than that of government.

Zakat Campaign for Ramadan geared up

Under the current circumstances, Zakat campaign during Ramadan has assumed great significance. An intense campaign through electronic, print and outdoor media plus personal appeals is ongoing for this purpose. We request all our readers and patrons to not only contribute but also motivate your friends to help Al-Shifa in humanitarian cause of giving light to those who cannot see. There cannot be a better or more effective utilization of your Zakat than to restore the eye sight of someone who is blind.

Low Vision department gets tremendous boost from Universal Service Funds

In collaboration with Ministry of IT, Al-Shifa Trust has received a major contribution from Universal Service Funds (USF) to support our Departments of Low Vision at Rawalpindi, Sukkur and Kohat. With this help, Al-Shifa Low Vision Department will become the most advanced of its kind in the region. Having most of the computerized low vision devices available, it will become the most resourceful Low Vision Center in Asia after the Light House in Hong Kong. It is estimated that there are about five million patients with low vision in Pakistan.


Some of the advanced computerized low vision devices

Al-Shifa delegation actively participates in World Ophthalmic moot at Hong Kong

World Ophthalmology Congress (WOC) is the largest international gathering of eye professionals which is held every two years. This year WOC 2008 was held at picturesque Hong Kong. With over 10,000 participants and about 2,000 presenters it was a great occasion for remaining update on the latest advancements. Prof. Wajid Ali Khan and Prof. Tayyab Afghani from Al-Shifa also presented their latest scientific work on cornea and orbit respectively.

President Al-Shifa fund raising activities in North America attracts large audience

The periodic international fund-raising tours of Mr. Jahan Dad Khan, President Al-Shifa Trust are a major source of external support to Al-Shifa. Recently he conducted a successful tour of North America. The fund-raisers took place in nine different cities of USA and Canada. The amount of pledges was much more than those of the previous occasions. We are grateful to all of Al-Shifa Chapters and Friends who made this tour successful.

Young Friends of Al-Shifa set example of volunteerism

YFA or Young Friends of Al-Shifa is now a household name in leading schools of the city like Roots, Beacon House, and Froebel etc. The youngsters have been carrying out social work at Al-Shifa with dedication and commitment for last many years. The social work at Al-Shifa has now become so ‘competitive and prestigious’ that there was a long queue of aspirants this time. Due to limited seats only 30 students were selected who carried out different types of activities for patient welfare at the hospital in this quarter

Patient Column

Laiba, a six years girl comes from a poor family of suburban area of Karachi. In January 2007, she was accidently struck by a hard ball in her right eye. She developed a swelling and vision was reduced considerably. She underwent treatment at various hospitals which resulted in mild improvement. Later she started having low grade fever which did not respond to any treatment. The swelling in the outer part of her right eye did not subside. For the next one year her parents were unable to afford her the appropriate treatment. One day, by chance, the parents of Laiba came across Dr. Sharjeel, a doctor from Karachi, who had completed his training at Al-Shifa Rawalpindi. He immediately knew where the child should be sent for appropriate and affordable treatment for this complicated ailment. A local NGO arranged for their transport from Karachi and finally Laiba underwent surgery at Al-Shifa Rawalpindi. A final diagnosis of tuberculosis of eye involving the surrounding bones was made and she is now healthy after surgery and 9 months of medical treatment.


Before	After

Visitors’ Diary

Mr. Ikhalaque and his family at Al-Shifa with President Al-Shifa

Mr. Mohammad Ikhlaque from Abu Dhabi along with his family visited Al-Shifa Trust Rawalpindi. He is a great philanthropist who has donated Rs. 3 million to Al-Shifa. He is doing a lot of charity work with significant contribution towards rehabilitation of earthquake victims. Due to his extra-ordinary services, he has been taken on Board of Governors of Al-Shifa Trust

Mr. Nasir Javed from Los Angeles
Mr. Khalid Usman from Toronto
Dr. Fazalur Rehman from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Haji Sabir MBE from Bradford, UK
Mr. Younis Bhatti from UK

Donors’ Corner

The donors of Al-Shifa Trust are the main driving force in whatever we have achieved. During this quarter, we gratefully acknowledge the valuable contribution from the following.

Institutional Donors
- Ministry of Religious Affairs provided regular grant of Rs. 11 million
- Bahria Town contributed Rs. 3.3 million.
- Interloop a private company donated Rs. one million
Individual Donors
- Mr. Mohammad Ikhlaq from Abu Dhabi donated Rs. three million
- Mr. Khalid Iftikhar contributed Rs. 250,000
- Dr. Lubna Shakoh from Lahore donated about Rs. 200,000

Progress Report


HOSPITAL AND OUTREACH PERFORMANCE Rawalpindi, Sukkur and Kohat Second Quarter 2008
Month	Outpatients			Operations
	Rawalpindi	Sukkur	Kohat	Rawalpindi	Sukkur	Kohat
May	12,417	4,436	1,469	1,265	537	344
June	11,506	3,609	1,433	1,081	389	247
July	11,360	3,077	1,178	716	322	160
Total	35,283	11,122	4,080	3,062	1,248	751
Grand Total	50,485			5,061

Important Coming Events At Al-Shifa

Ramadan Zakat Campaign
Visit of UK by President Al-Shifa – October 2008
Launching of Income generating Project

APPEAL

Al-Shifa is a Not-for-Profit and a non-political organization. It is committed to providing eye care and treatment mainly to the under privileged and poor. Almost 75% of all patients attending Al-Shifa Eye Hospital are treated free. The Trust is able to meet only 30-40% of its expenses from its own sources while the remaining expenses are met through Zakat, donations and support from philanthropists.
Your contribution means the gift of sight for someone in need!

Kindly note that your Zakat donations go separately to the accounts which are dedicated for treatment of Zakat patients only.
Kindly send your donations or Zakat to following Account Numbers:

In UK
- Habib Bank AG Zurich 5/7 High Street Southall, Middlesex UB 1 3HA, UK
Account Number = 7-2-7-20311-402-109356 (Pound Sterling Account)
Account Number = 7-2-7-20311-333-109356 (US dollar Account)

HSBC Bank AuchinLeck House, Birmingham:
- Sort Code 40-11-08
- Account No. 41311565
In USA
1. - National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), 100 Wall Street, 21st Floor New York, NY 10005: Account Number = 52152578
  - Al-Shifa Foundation of North America 1200 SMITH ST STE 2355 Houston TX 77002: Tax ID (For US Residents Only) 36-4328912
2. In Pakistan,
  - donations can be sent directly to Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital, Jhelum Road, Rawalpindi or to Account No. 8-7, Muslim Commercial Bank Limited, Al-Shifa Branch Rawalpindi. All donations in Pakistan are exempted from Income Tax vide Regional Commissioner Income Tax, Islamabad, letter number SO-III-26 (9)97-98/5422 dated 23rd May 1998.

Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital, Jhelum Road, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Tel: 0092 51 5487820-25, Fax: 0092 51 5487827
Email: [email protected]
Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital, Railway Road, Sukkur, Pakistan
Tel: 0092 71 5612766, 0092 71 5615466 Fax: 0092 71 5613453
Email: [email protected]
Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital, KDA, Kohat, Pakistan
Tel: 0092 922 515686, 0092 922 515710: Fax: 0092 922 515668
Email: [email protected]

Please note our New Email Address: [email protected]