**Convocation Ceremony of the School of Nursing at Khardadar General Hospital.**
**Karachi:** Institutions and individuals dedicated to a higher and noble cause are a national asset. Education and health are basic necessities and are the guarantee of a society’s life and success. These views were expressed by Provincial Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah while addressing the first convocation ceremony of the Khardadar General Hospital School of Nursing. He further stated that Khardadar General Hospital’s provision of quality medical services for over a century to the needy population of Lyari and its adjoining areas is a shining example of consistency, sincerity, and goodwill. He said that there is a severe shortage of manpower in education, especially in the nursing sector, and by joining this dignified and sacred profession, not only can precious lives be saved, but ease can be brought to human life.
On this occasion, the President of Khardadar General Hospital, philanthropist, and renowned industrialist Muhammad Bashir Jan Muhammad said that nurturing the sectors of education and health is our national responsibility. He stated that Khardadar General Hospital performs the important duty of saving millions of lives and improving those lives every year. Alongside this, thousands of graduates from the Khardadar General Hospital School of Nursing are playing their vital role in the health sector. He added that quality medical services are available at highly concessional charges for the needy population of Lyari and its adjoining areas, and this service has been ongoing for the past hundred years.
The Chairman of Khardadar General Hospital, renowned community development leader, Sitara-e-Imtiaz Professor Abdul Ghaffar Billo, said that today’s convocation ceremony is a harbinger of joy, hope, and a bright future. Today’s graduates will be the healers of tomorrow and will perform the duty of saving human lives. He said that providing quality manpower is a fundamental requirement for improving health indicators and stabilizing the health system on solid foundations. The Dow University of Health Sciences is playing a key role in developing a workforce with high professional expertise based on international standards, continuously enhancing capacity, and fostering research trends to meet medical challenges.
He said that the Khardadar General Hospital School of Nursing holds a distinguished position among affiliated institutions due to its high-quality teaching and modern facilities, and the outstanding results of the school are clear evidence of this. On this occasion, the Malaysian Consul General, Herman Dainta Ahmed, said that the Khardadar General Hospital School of Nursing is providing the best professional community by promoting modern education, high-quality training, and research trends.
On this occasion, the Chief Executive Officer of Khardadar General Hospital, Dr. Khalid Iqbal, said that today is a historic day for the graduates, their parents, and teachers. Today marks a pledge to consider human lives extremely precious and to expend all professional skill and energy to improve them. Even today, diseases prevalent in society such as dengue, malaria, typhoid, measles, hepatitis, and others are open challenges for us, and to prevent them, we must promote health awareness and organize society on the principles of hygiene so that diseases can be avoided.
Addressing the ceremony, the Director of the School of Nursing at Khardadar General Hospital, Talat Parveen Shah, congratulated the students and said that they must perform their professional role to save human lives without any distinction of color, race, or religion. She said that a nurse is a living symbol of hope, life, and health, who, by risking her own life in the face of infectious disease outbreaks, is performing her moral duty to save many precious lives.
On this occasion, the Principal of the school, Muhammad Shahid, said that only by adopting modern trends and research can we face new challenges. Afterwards, the chief guests awarded degrees to the graduates.