ISLAMABAD: Engro Foundation, the social investment arm of Engro Corporation, has committed to provide Rs20 million in financial assistance to Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre to expand COVID-19 testing capacity across southern Punjab and strengthen the health sector to cope with the ongoing pandemic.
Under the “Southern Punjab Screening Program – Free of Cost” campaign, Engro Foundation will sponsor Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre to use its existing network of pathology laboratory collection centres to provide free of cost testing services to the deserving patients. To ensure maximum coverage of the rural population, the testing campaign will be initially deployed in Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Layyah, Muzaffargarh, Bahawalpur and Bahawalnagar.
According to Chairman Engro Corporation Hussain Dawood, “The rate of growth of COVID-19 in Pakistan exposes our healthcare system to a multitude of risks. It is only through partnerships that we will be able to amplify enablement and create the desired impact. Our partnership with Shaukat Khanam Memorial Hospital is based on the shared mission to accelerate testing for COVID-19, which is of paramount importance in our collective response to manage this pandemic”.
President & CEO of Engro Corporation, Ghias Khan said that gradual increase in number of COVID-19 cases in southern Punjab has placed an additional burden on the region’s healthcare sector. It is imperative that the rate of testing is increased in these areas for early detection and control of local virus transmission, he added.
“Our partnership with Shaukat Khanum Hospital is one of the means to this end, whereby we will be providing free of cost testing facilities to control the spread of COVID-19,” he further said.
Last week, Engro Fertilizers, a subsidiary of Engro Corporation, also announced a collaboration with Indus Hospital to launch free of cost testing interventions across rural Sindh.
The launch of this campaign with Shaukat Khanum is part of the Rs1 billion pledge made by Chairman of Engro Corporation Hussain Dawood and Dawood Hercules Corporation. Under this pledge, the Group is supporting COVID-19 relief efforts in services, cash and kind on multiple fronts. – TLTP
Engro, SKMCH agree to boost corona testing capacity in the Punjab
