LARKANA, Monday, December 29, 2025 (WNP): Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Monday reiterated his vision of establishing world-class healthcare and educational institutions in every district, asserting that access to quality health and education is a fundamental right rather than a privilege.
Addressing the convocation ceremony of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University (SMBBMU) in Larkana as chief guest, alongside Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Bilawal called on doctors and paramedics to play a frontline role in strengthening Sindh’s modern public healthcare system and safeguarding citizens’ right to life, dignity and compassionate medical care.
“I stand before you at a university whose name is not merely a memory, but a promise — a promise of courage, compassion and an unshakable belief in the dignity of human life,” Bilawal said, recalling the vision of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. He noted that for her, healthcare was inseparable from justice, as denying health services amounted to denying people their most basic right — the right to live with dignity.
Congratulating the graduating doctors, Bilawal described Larkana as a symbol of resistance against injustice, commitment to democracy and service to the common people. He urged the new medical professionals to ensure that their education never distances them from the poor patient, the anxious mother or the forgotten child, and praised the university’s faculty and administration for shaping both professional competence and character.
Highlighting reforms following the 18th Constitutional Amendment, Bilawal said the PPP-led Sindh government had placed public healthcare among its top priorities, making significant investments to expand and strengthen services. He cited the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), devolved to Sindh in 2015, as a global model for cardiac care following sustained provincial support.
He also pointed to the expansion of the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) across the province, with centres operating in Karachi and Sukkur and new facilities recently inaugurated. “The tireless efforts of Dr. Adeeb Rizvi are evident to all, and together we have taken this exemplary institution across Sindh. Our aim is to extend such facilities to even more districts,” he said.
Bilawal further noted the transformation of the National Institute of Child Health (NICH), which has evolved from a single federal institution into a network of paediatric care centres. Four facilities are now operational in Karachi, while paediatric and neonatal intensive care services have been expanded to Nawabshah, Jamshoro, Sukkur and Larkana. Under a public-private partnership with the ChildLife Foundation, he added, emergency services for children have been established in all districts of Sindh.
Paying tribute to former Sindh chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Bilawal highlighted the state-of-the-art hospital established in Gambat tehsil of Khairpur, describing it as comparable to leading hospitals in major cities.
Turning to education, Bilawal acknowledged that significant challenges remain but pointed to measurable progress. “Before the creation of Pakistan, Sindh had only one university — Sindh University. From 1947 to 2008, 16 universities were established. Since 2008, that number has increased to 30,” he said.
He also criticized cuts to federal funding for the Higher Education Commission (HEC) after 2017–18, noting that Sindh was the only province to continue shouldering the financial burden to support its universities. The Sindh government’s objective, he said, is to ensure at least one university campus in every district — and ideally a full-fledged university — to provide youth in remote areas with access to higher education and promote balanced regional development.
The convocation ceremony was attended by senior government officials, university faculty, graduates and their families.
