Turkish aid agency donates 200 wheelchairs in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan

A Turkish aid agency on Thursday donated 200 wheelchairs in Pakistan.

Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan Ihsan Mustafa Yurdakul was the chief guest of the wheelchairs distribution ceremony organized by at National Rehabilitation Medicine Institute (NIRM) in capital Islamabad.

Aon Abbas Buppi, managing director of Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal; and Gokhan Umut, head of Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) in Pakistan, also attended the ceremony.

Addressing the ceremony, Yurdakul said that his country has always stood with Pakistan and has been helping out the country in all sectors.

"This gift is an indication that Turkey stands side by side with Pakistan and we will always help our Pakistani brothers and sisters," he said.

Referring to distribution of food and iftar by Turkish aid agencies during the Muslim month of Ramadan, Yurdakul said they will continue to help the needy people in Pakistan.

TIKA also donated 10 stretchers and 15 airbeds for poor patients being treated in the National Rehabilitation Medicine Institute.

Among the 200 wheelchairs donated by TIKA, 70 wheelchairs were donated to the hospital.

"TIKA has started its collaboration with NIRM by gifting Cystoscope Set in 2014. Today it is our second project with NIRM and we are going to achieve another mile stone of cooperation with NIRM by providing wheel chairs and other medical equipment to patients of the hospital," Gokhan Umut, country's head of TIKA, said.

“I believe this kind of projects completed by TIKA will bring Turkey and Pakistan closer,” he added.

TIKA is focusing on strengthening Pakistan’s health sector by providing medical equipment, upgrading of hospitals and increasing the capacity building of hospital staff through training programs.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan during his visit to Turkey in January had praised Turkey’s health system during his joint news conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The 100-bed state-of-the art Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital in Muzaffargarh area is one of the most significant projects completed by TIKA in Pakistan.

"We also have history of cooperation with Pakistan Bait-ul-Maal," Gokhan told the participants.

TIKA upgraded the children ward of Bacha Khan Hospital in Swabi in 2018 and arranged a training program for doctors and nurses of Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar.

The Turkish aid agency also established a neonatal unit in District Head Quarter Hospital in northeastern Okara, refurbished dental ward of De'Montmorency College of Dentistry in Lahore and installed a HEPA Filter System (HVAC) in Children Hospital, Lahore.