PESHAWAR: Afghan nationals have praised Pakistani Government on Tuesday for setting up a medical facility on Torkham border crossing, saying it would assist thousands of Afghans requiring medical treatment.
Thousands of Afghan citizens visit Pakistan annually for medical treatment. Khyber Pathkoonkhuwa’s health ministry has said, “Afghan patients will no longer need to travel to other Pakistani cities for medical treatment because the Pak-Afghan Healthcare Referral Facility on Torkham border contains state-of-the-art paraphernalia. There are also highly qualified medical practitioners and surgeons who will treat the patients,”
Prime Minister Imran Khan will soon formally inaugurate the health facility at Zero Point.
Yasir Hikmat, an Afghan national studying in Pakistan has described the hospital as a brilliant step by the Pakistani government in Islamabad, he stated that this step would benefit poor patients who could not afford to travel to metropolitan cities of Pakistan.
“This is a noble thing to do and will build ties between the two governments and their people. I pray this hospital lives up to the expectations of Afghan patients and offers them medical treatment for all disease under one roof,” he said while talking to an international media outlet.
Hikmat added, “the hospital would be more successful if Pakistan eases the visa regime for ailing Afghans who needed to travel on medical grounds”.
Sayed Alauddin, another Afghan student studying in Peshawar, informed the international media outlet that Afghan patients faced serious challenges while reaching Pakistani hospitals, adding that this facility would offer them a huge sigh of relief.
“This will be a great service to ailing Afghans,” he said, “because the hospital on the border will help save time and money of poor patients.”
