Bilawal Bhutto Zardari reaffirmed his vision of establishing world class health and education institutions in every district while addressing the convocation of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University in Larkana alongside Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah. He said access to quality healthcare and education is not a privilege but a fundamental right, and urged doctors and paramedics to align with the Sindh government’s modern public health system to defend citizens’ right to life, dignity and compassionate care.
Speaking about the legacy of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, he described the university’s name as a promise of courage and compassion and recalled that when she spoke of health she spoke of justice, because denying healthcare denies people their dignity. Addressing the new graduates, he asked them to keep their training close to the needs of the poor patient, the anxious mother and the forgotten child, and commended faculty and administration for shaping both professional skills and character.
Bilawal outlined the PPP provincial government’s post 18th Amendment priorities that placed the public healthcare sector at the forefront, noting that the devolution of NICVD to Sindh in 2015 transformed the hospital into a global example for cardiac care. He highlighted the government’s partnership with SIUT to expand its centres to Sukkur, Karachi and other districts, and said the aim is to extend such facilities to even more parts of the province.
He emphasised that NICH has also been strengthened under provincial initiatives, evolving from a single federal paediatric centre to multiple operational centres in Karachi and paediatric intensive care services in Nawabshah, Jamshoro, Sukkur and now Larkana. Under a public private partnership with the Child Life Foundation, Sindh has established emergency services and child emergency rooms across all districts as part of the broader plan to bring high quality healthcare to local communities.
Paying tribute to former Sindh chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Bilawal cited the Gambat hospital as an example of modern facilities outside major cities that match urban standards. He said these investments reflect a committed effort to decentralise specialised care and ensure that advanced treatment is available beyond provincial capitals.
On education, Bilawal noted there was considerable scope for improvement and recalled that before Pakistan’s creation there was only one university in Sindh. He said the province saw 16 universities established between 1947 and 2008 and that number has risen to 30 since 2008. After federal funding cuts to the Higher Education Commission in 2017 18, Sindh remained the only province to shoulder support for its universities, he added.
Reiterating the provincial objective, Bilawal said the government seeks to ensure at least one university campus in every district and ideally a full fledged university so youth in remote and underdeveloped areas can access higher education and opportunities for progress. The focus on health and education, he said, is central to the PPP’s agenda for social justice and inclusive development across Sindh.
