Aga Khan University Hospital's (AKUH) first international Representative Office was inaugurated on May 4, 2002 by H.E. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Assistant Under Secretary and Director of Sharjah Medical District. Officials of the Ministry of Health of UAE, Pakistani Consul General, prominent Pakistanis and media representatives were present on the occasion. AKUH team that had specially come from Karachi for this occasion, included Dr. Shamsh Kassim-Lakha, President of Aga Khan University, Nadeem Mustafa Khan, Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the Hospital, and Asif Fancy, Senior Director, Resource Development and Public Affairs.

Addressing the select gathering at the inauguration ceremony, H.E. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Saqr Al Qasimi appreciated the efforts of the University for providing an opportunity for cost-effective health care options to the UAE population and assured his continued support. He said, "We appreciate the efforts of Aga Khan University for providing good quality medical treatments such as open heart surgery and oncology care and for opening an opportunity for cost-effective health care options to the UAE population and to assist patients in obtaining feedback from AKUH consultants on their medical reports and diagnosis. With deep-rooted relations between our two countries and mutual benefits, our friendship will flourish especially when we plant the seeds today. The co-operation between the UAE Ministry of Health and AKUH will get stronger with branches all over the Gulf and this friendship will flourish in the future with sweet fruit."

Thanking the chief guest, Dr. Shamsh Kassim-Lakha, informed that Aga Khan University Hospital is the principal teaching site of Aga Khan University, Karachi, which is the first private international university in Pakistan. The University is an academic centre of Aga Khan Development Network, a group of development agencies, institutions, and programmes that work primarily in the developing parts of Asia and Africa.

Commenting on the objectives of AKUH Representative Office in Dubai, he said, "the office is established to provide convenience and easy accessibility to AKUH's high-quality, cost effective services to patients in UAE. The office will not only provide information about the facilities available at the Hospital but will also assist patients in obtaining feedback from AKUH consultants on their medical reports, scheduling appointments, providing cost estimates for treatment required and making transportation and lodging choices in Karachi."

Delivering the vote of thanks, Nadeem Mustafa Khan, said that as a teaching institution, AKUH is committed to providing the best possible options for diagnosis of disease and team management of patient care that is comparable to the best medical centres in North America. The University Hospital provides a high quality of patient care covering a large spectrum of medical and surgical diagnosis and treatment, such as open heart surgery, hip replacement surgery, neurology, and oncology. The Hospital's professional staff and facilities are among the best in the region. It has the distinction of being the first in Pakistan and among the first few teaching hospitals in the world to receive ISO 9002 certification for developing and maintaining consistent international standards of quality service.

Dr. Shamsh Kassim-Lakha said, "the Hospital provides health care to over 33,000 hospitalised patients and to over 344,000 outpatients annually. The Hospital also receives a large number of patient referrals every year from East Africa, Bangladesh and the Middle East."

To mark the inauguration of AKUH's first representative office in Dubai, two public health awareness programmes, "Signs, Symptoms and Care" (SSC), were organised, one each in Dubai and Abu Dhabi as part of a series of SSC programmes held in Karachi to increase awareness for early diagnosis and timely treatment of health problems. The programmes received excellent encouragement and response from members of the public. It included presentations by heads of cardiology and cardiac surgery departments from AKUH. The topic for the SSC programme was "Heart Attack! The Major Killer - Prevention and Treatment".

AKUH has organised over 100 SSC programmes in Karachi, which have drawn over 24,000 people, as part of its societal commitment to create awareness of the importance of early diagnosis and timely treatment.

A dinner was hosted on May 5, 2002 by Ambassador of Pakistan to UAE in Abu Dhabi, H.E. Mr. Salim Ullah, to mark the inauguration of AKUH's Representative Office in Dubai. It was indeed an acknowledgement of his strong commitment to AKUH's presence in UAE. Major invitees included officials from the Ministries of Health and Foreign Affairs, prominent UAE nationals, doctors as well as leaders of the Pakistani community.