AGFUND INTERNATIONAL PRIZE
FOR PIONEERING DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
THE WINNING PROJECTS 2008

THIRD CATEGORY PRIZE 2008

For projects by Individuals.

projects were recommended for evaluation

Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Jahan Dad Khan is the founder and President of AI- Shifa Trust. The Trust was established on 23rd March 1985. He himself donated Rs. one million to start the fund-raising for the Trust. He was the one who requested from the President of Pakistan to become a Trustee and then established a board of Trustees comprising eminent personalities from all over Pakistan. Keeping in view the role and service to the Trust, Board of Trustees has been electing Mr. Jahan Dad to be President of the Trust for the last 23 years. General Jahan Dad later on has founded various chapters of AI-Shifa Trust in Gulf, UK and North America comprising of the prominent philanthropists of Pak origin. These chapters are responsible for fund-raising. As President of the Trust, Mr. Jahan Dad Khan is also the Chief Executive and supervises the activities of the Trust.

Mr. Jahan Dad Khan is the key fund-raiser for the Trust and all its activities. Since the first fund-raiser was held in Islamabad in June 1987, he has been visiting Gulf, UK and North America regularly. These fund-raisers have raised over Rs.300 million (approximately 5 million US dollars). This is in addition to the donations from individual donors, Federal and Provincial Govt. Grants and INGOs support.

Mr. Jahan Dad Khan as President of the Trust is the brain behind all major achievements of the Trust like:

• Establishment of three major state of the art eye hospitals in three different provinces of the country.
• Recognized as regional center of excellence for training in pediatric ophthalmology by WHO and Lions and recognized as national center of excellence for training in retina by College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan;
• Recognition of AI-Shifa Trust as WHO Collaborating Center for EMR since 1994;
• International Partnership Award by WHO EMRO in March 2006;
• Gold Medal Award by Pakistan Ophthalmological Society in December 2007;
• Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Khan is the architect of our next 20 years Strategic Plan (2006-2025), named as `Vision 2025' which is the future vision of AI-Shifa.

The salient features of `Vision 2025' are as follows:

1. Establishment of five center of excellence in eye care in all the four provinces of Pakistan and Azad Kashmir. Rawalpindi hospital is already a center of excellence, while the rest will gradually attain this status in the years to come.
2. Our HRD program will continue to provide Fellowships, Masters and Diplomas in Ophthalmology and B.Sc. level programs for Ophthalmic Midlevel Personnel. The intake of trainees from regional countries of Africa and Asia will be further increased. The infrastructure to support the international training is already being expanded.
3. Research plan visualizes capacity building in research through development of infrastructure and human resources, running of Ph.D programs, development of a dedicated staff undertaking applied and basic research and collaboration with international institutions.
4. Establishment of Rural Vision Centers which will serve as AI-Shifa Secondary Eye-Care Centers in rural areas of the country.
5. Development of Tele-Ophthalmology to extend the modern eye care technology to district, sub-district and rural areas. The Tele-consultation, Tele-education and Tele-training will be conducted from the base at Rawalpindi for all AI-Shifa Hospitals, selected districts and selected rural vision centers.
6. The concept of Health Tourism will be further promoted.
7. The financial self-reliance has been targeted to increase from present of 40% to 80% . The major sources of receipt in this master plan are pharmaceutical project, hospitals, filling stations and commercial complexes.

Al-Shifa Trust is a non- political, non-governmental, and non-profitable organization involved in the delivery of high quality eye care services for the past 15 years in Pakistan. Completed on self-help basis and spread over 300 kanals of land, the 250-bed Eye Hospital of international standard at a cost of Rs. 350 million, Rawalpindi was inaugurated on 28th, of April 1991. Currently three state of the art eye hospitals run by Al-Shifa Trust are providing services at Rawalpindi, Sukkur and Kohat. Within a short period of its existence, the standard of eye care at these hospitals and its widespread, need-based prevention of blindness programme led to the recognition of Al-Shifa Trust as WHO Collaborating Center and Center Of Excellence for the prevention of blindness in East Mediterranean Region. WHO has recently awarded international partnership award to Al-Shifa Trust for its outstanding contributions in prevention and control of blindness. The mission of the Trust is “Prevention and control of blindness by providing appropriate and sustainable eye care services which are accessible and affordable to all regardless of gender, race, color or religion. Its essential components would be hospital based tertiary eye care services, need based human resource development, community oriented prevention of blindness programme, research and development of appropriate and affordable technology.” The aims and objectives of the Trust are to provide free treatment to poor people, suffering from eye ailments, to provide mobile Ophthalmic Services (Preventive and Community Ophthalmology organized with follow-up supervised eye camps) and finally to rehabilitate the visually handicapped.

Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital Rawalpindi: About 500 patients visit the Al-Shifa Trust Hospital, Rawalpindi daily seeking treatment for varying eye diseases. 70% of the patients are treated free, while 30% are paying nominal subsidized rates. In addition to common eye problems like cataract, different subspecialty clinics have been set-up for management of various complicated eye problems like pediatric eye diseases, retinal pathology, orbit and oculoplastic disorders, corneal and lachrymal diseases and low vision management. So far about half million patients have been treated at the hospital and more than 300,000 have been operated.

Pakistan Institute of Ophthalmology (PlO) Rawalpindi is the seat of learning both for doctors and Para-professional like nurses, optometrists and other Ophthalmic Mid Level Personnel (OMP) Three post graduate courses for doctors. So far over 130 doctors and more than 400 Para-professionals have completed their post-graduate training here. These trainees at P10 are from within the country as well as from regional countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

Al-Shifa Center for Community Ophthalmology (ACCO) is responsible for conducting outreach program in the rural community. Over 2,500 outreach activities have been conducted where half million patients have been screened for various eye problems. 1.65 million children have been screened. 9,000 voluntary workers have been trained in the field including lady health workers, teachers and social workers. The outreach programs have not only been conducted throughout the country but also from Afghanistan (Herat, Jalalabad, Qandhar and Mazare Sharif) Al-Shifa Trust also has the distinction of having in-house facilities for production of low-cost good-quality eye products which range from antibiotic eye drops, anti-glaucoma medicines and viscoelastic chemicals etc. In addition, good quality spectacles and low-vision devices are also being produced by Al-Shifa Trust.

The major beneficiaries of AI-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital Rawalpindi Project are deserving visually impaired patients, who have their sight restored through surgery, optical aids or medicine. These include patients who are treated at the hospital and also those patients who were managed during the outreach program. In addition the scores of doctors and eye paramedics, who have undergone training here and are now serving all over Pakistan, thus are earning their livelihood. The hundreds of employees of this hospital are also beneficiaries of this project by having a respectable job which not only provides them sufficient earning but also constantly adds to their skill and experience in their relevant fields. The list of beneficiaries of eye treatment (1991-2007) is as follows: -

This project has meticulously defined its objectives, making it possible to evaluate its activities and outputs, which are considerable. It is quite a lofty mission to say that you wish to prevent and control blindness. Al-Shifa has, however, gone about doing so by developing a carefully designed comprehensive system that addresses the wide spectrum of issues that are required to actualize its mission. It has used techniques that make its services available to rural, marginalized, and underserved populations. It has also developed necessary products and tools such as low vision aids and spectacles. In addition, it has addressed the serious shortage of vision care personnel within its own area and within neighboring countries. And, finally, it has devoted resources to essential research that will serve to guide future service. In addition, Al-Shifa has developed management systems and resource development strategies that inspire support from government, non-governmental organizations, and individuals at home and abroad. It’s careful planning and monitoring by internal and external evaluators has enabled it to sustain itself and to expand. Al-Shifa is a model for comprehensive, high quality, and sustainable vision care. It’s leadership and dedicated staff, volunteers, and supporters should be highly commended and encouraged to share their model as widely as possible.