RCPE Press Release
30 July 2012
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
Mr Imran Khan, Pakistani politician and former international cricketer, received an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) at a ceremony in Edinburgh on 27 July 2012.
Mr Khan was nominated by RCPE Fellows in Pakistan on the basis of his contribution to medical care in Pakistan. Following his mother’s death from cancer, he resolved to set up a state of the art cancer centre which would be accessible to anyone, regardless of their ability to pay. He launched a campaign to raise funds and, during the campaign for the construction of the hospital, over one million individual donors contributed. The result was the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre in Lahore, which was the first ever cancer hospital in Pakistan of an international standard.
Since it opened in 1994, the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre has spent over US $130 million supporting the treatment of thousands of impoverished cancer patients, and currently three quarters of all cancer patients seen at the hospital receive financial support. The Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust has established a number of centres all over Pakistan that help in the awareness, diagnosis and treatment of cancer in Pakistan.
Imran Khan has also been able to use his international profile as a cricketer to support health and immunisation programmes in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
The RCPE, while based in Edinburgh, is an international professional medical organisation with over 10,000 Fellows and Members worldwide, half of whom are based outwith the UK. The RCPE oversees an extensive programme of medical examinations and educational events. The RCPE now routinely broadcasts its educational symposia live around the world, over the Internet, and the Shaukut Khanum Memorial Cancer and Research Centre is one of the regular link sites at which doctors can participate in these events.
Dr Neil Dewhurst, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, said,
“Honorary Fellowship is a prestigious award, rarely given. We are delighted that Imran Khan has accepted this award which reflects the very high regard in which he is held by medical experts in Pakistan for his considerable contribution to medical care”.
ENDS
Contact: Graeme McAlister on 0131-247-3693 or 07808-939395
Notes to Editors
A photograph of Imran Khan receiving his Honorary Felloship of the RCPE from Dr Neil Dewhurst is available by request. Contact Graeme McAlister at the above number or at g.mcalister@rcpe.ac.uk
