Karachi, Sindh

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that Aga Khan University has been a trusted partner of Sindh government for decades but in recent years, the partnership has proven its value like never before.

“At the start of the pandemic, when Pakistan was recording its first cases of the virus, there were so many unknowns, there were so many questions in need of answers at that difficult time, and therefore expertise of AKU was invaluable.”

This he said while speaking on the occasion of Agha Khan University Founder’s Day – the 40th Anniversary, and the Convocation of the Class of 2022 at Aga Khan University on Saturday March 18, 2023. The program was attended by Princess Zahra Aga Khan, Chairman Zakir Mahmood and Members of the Board of Trustees President Sulaiman Shahabuddin, members of the Class of 2022 and family members of the graduates.

Murad Shah said that as the case count of COVID-19 rose, and it became clear we needed to provide additional training to our doctors and nurses in caring for seriously ill Covid patients, we naturally turned to AKU. He added that with great enthusiasm, the AKU faculty trained thousands of public-sector health professionals and set up a hotline so that ICU doctors at public hospitals could get advice on caring for Covid patients round the clock.

The CM recalled that throughout the pandemic, his government relied on AKU for data on the spread of the virus and the arrival of new strains.

Shah talking about recent floods- the worst in our history, devastation was unlike anything Pakistan had ever seen. “AKU rose to the challenge once again, alongside government and numerous other private sector institutions and rushed to establish health camps in affected communities across Sindh and other provinces,” he said and added it [AKU]  cared for hundreds of thousands of people.

The CM thanked the members of the AKU community who came to the aid of their fellow citizens in their hour of need, whether as volunteers or as donors. He added that the fact that so many AKU students participated in the University’s flood response speaks highly of them and of the education they have received here.

Murad Shah said that he could recount many more examples of AKU addressing important health and education issues in partnership with the public sector-from increasing access to vaccination in underserved areas of Karachi, to training teachers in rural Sindh. “The AKU is not an institution that exists for one group or sector of society but it working for the benefit of Sindh and Pakistan as a whole,” he said.

Shah said that he has personal experience that he has an AKU graduate in his own family. “My niece is a member of the Medical College’s Class of 2017, so I know the kind of education that the graduates have received, I know their potential and I know that their futures are very bright indeed,” he said.

AKU doesn’t work in Pakistan only but it also has thriving campuses and hospitals in Afghanistan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and the United Kingdom, the CM disclosed and went on saying that he had no doubt that they were fortunate that the Aga Khan University has planted roots in their soil.

AKU’s success is a point of pride for the communities and countries it serves, the CM said and added that that reminded us that there was another way in which, as His Highness said that the university was linked to the welfare of the society in which it is based.”

Murad Shah said that if AKU was flourishing, it was because it has been nourished by the people of Pakistan and its host countries across the Indian Ocean. “Its success is our success and it shows what we are capable of,” he said.

The CM said he would be working closely with AKU to bring outstanding healthcare and education to the people of Sindh and Pakistan. He hoped that the new graduates would continue to demonstrate the power of an AKU education, and the extraordinary talent of our youth

Earlier, the CM met with Princess Zahra Aga Khan and exchanged views with her. (PR)

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