This year, AKU reached a new milestone in its decades-long efforts to improve the health of women and children in Pakistan and beyond, with the opening of the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health during the 40th anniversary of the University.
A plaque unveiling ceremony on AKU’s Stadium Road campus was held on November 29, 2023, to recognise the Hashwani family for providing an extraordinary gift to enable the construction of the facility. Princess Zahra Aga Khan, other members of the Board of Trustees, senior leaders of the University and family and friends joined the ceremony to appreciate the donors.
Highlighting the role of the new Centre, President Sulaiman Shahabuddin said “It is the physical embodiment of AKU’s commitment to giving children of every background an equal chance to thrive, and of our dedication to the cause of women’s health and empowerment.”
The Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health will not only continue but accelerate AKU’s progress towards the Chancellor, His Highness the Aga Khan’s vision of AKU becoming one of the world resources in health problems of mothers and children.
The new facility is a comprehensive blend of integrated health services and academic programmes, spanning four floors and featuring state-of-the-art clinical spaces, research facilities and faculty offices. It houses outpatient clinics for Paediatrics and Child Health and Obstetrics and Gynaecology, a Feto-Maternal unit and the Child Development and Rehabilitation Centre to cater to the unique needs of expectant mothers and differently-abled and other children.
To advance the research work of the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health, the facility is equipped with a cutting-edge Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory and a Nutrition Research Laboratory. The Human Development Programme, a unique multidisciplinary initiative at AKU that strives to support Early Child Development through multidisciplinary and research-based approaches, also finds a worthy home in the new facility.
“The Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health is a facility that matches its ambitions for impact through knowledge creation and dissemination,” said Professor Zulfiqar Bhutta, Founding Director of the Centre. “It will accelerate our progress as we work with public and private institutions to ensure that women and children in disadvantaged urban and rural areas can get the best possible preventive and curative services.”
The Centre signifies an important step forward in transforming healthcare and improving the lives of women and children in Pakistan and beyond. It stands as a testament to the power of compassion, commitment and partnership and AKU expresses its deepest gratitude to the donors and supporters whose unwavering commitment has brought it to life.
