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The second phase of the US$108 million hospital includes 16 fully-equipped operation theatres. Other sections include specialist clinics, emergency unit and laboratories. Image Credit: WAM

Rawalpindi: The 2nd phase of the US$108 million Pakistani-Emirati Military Hospital has been opened in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi.

The move comes in line with the directives of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs.

The opening ceremony was attended by General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of the Staff of the Pakistani Army, Isa Abdullah Basha Al Nuaimi, UAE Ambassador to Pakistan, Abdullah Khalifa Al Ghafli, Director of the UAE’s Pakistan Assistance Programme (UAEPAP), a number of senior Pakistani Army officers, senior government officials and the hospital staff.

General Bawja and other guests toured the hospital’s different sections, including the outpatient clinics, specialist clinics, emergency unit, pharmacies, laboratories, radiology section and the blood bank.

They also stopped at the operation theatres, inpatient wards, lecture halls and the hospital’s control rooms.

During the opening ceremony, General Qamar Bawja delivered a speech in which he thanked Shaikh Khalifa and Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed for their continuous support to Pakistan.

Ambassador Eisa Al Nuaimi underlined UAE’s keenness to support Pakistan through several humanitarian and development projects.

Al Ghafli said the US$108 million hospital, one of the key projects carried out by UAEPAP, was co-funded by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) and the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation.

The 1,000-bed hospital has a capacity to cater for 6,000 patients daily. It has 16 fully-equipped operation theatres to perform 50 major surgeries per day.