CM vows to work with AKU to bring quality healthcare, education to people of Sindh.

KARACHI -- Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that the Aga Khan University had been a trusted partner of the Sindh government for decades, but in the recent years, the partnership had 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' therefore, expertise of AKU was invaluable,' he said while speaking on the occasion of the Agha Khan University Founder's Day: the 40th anniversary and the convocation of the Class of 2022 at the AKU. The programme was attended by Princess Zahra Aga Khan, Chairman Zakir Mahmood, Sulaiman Shahabuddin, members of the Class of 2022 and family members of the graduates. The chief minister said the AKU had been a trusted and great partner of his government. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the AKU was so willing to share its knowledge even in the middle of the night, and there was always someone from the university available to assist us, he added.

He said that as the case count of Covid-19 rose and it became clear that we needed to provide additional training to our doctors and nurses in caring for seriously ill patients, we naturally turned to the 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 the AKU for data on the spread of the virus and the arrival of new strains. Speaking about last year's monsoon floods, the worst in our history, he said 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 that the 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 said the fact that so many AKU students participated in the university's flood response speaks highly of them and of...