​Priorities for the AKU Annual Fund

Every year the University leadership identifies key areas of support that will have the greatest impact on our students and patients. The following are our critical and strategic areas of support for the current year.


Inspiring Student Success – Transforming Ordinary Students into Extraordinary Leaders
AKU aspires to meet the financial need of each student and offers financial aid ranging from partial to full-coverage, based on each family’s financial need. Since 1983, over US$ 16.95 million (PKR 1.14 billion) has been provided for student financial assistance, benefitting almost 2530 students in academic programmes in AKU, Karachi.  Since 2010, over US$ 1 million of financial assistance has been provided to 357 students in AKU programmes in East Africa. These students are given a once-in-lifetime opportunity to be mentored by the best faculty in a dynamic learning environment – transforming highly capable students into future leaders.
Meet our students!

Research – Unlocking New Knowledge; Generating New Solutions
AKU was set up as a “problem-solving university” with a mandate to conduct research that is relevant to the problems of the developing world. Our goal is to provide students and faculty the means to conduct ground breaking research. ​
In partnership with world renowned organizations such as WHO and UNICEF, AKU has conducted research in rural areas and ultra-poor, inner-city neighbourhoods to study the causes – and solutions – to some of the most urgent health issues in developing countries. These programmes have influenced the lives of over a quarter of a million people within and outside Karachi, and over six million across the country – resulting in outcomes such as reduced diarrhoeal diseases and infant deaths. These programmes now serve as models throughout Pakistan and other developing countries.

Partnership for Care – Providing Access Through a Gift of Hope
As specialized and advanced healthcare centres, our University Hospitals care for patients whose lives are suddenly and drastically changed. In 2013 alone, AKUH Pakistan provided welfare assistance worth US$ 6.98 million (PKR 698 million) to 178,025 patients, who needed immediate financial aid. The assistance was provided through a highly transparent process administered by the staff of the Patient Welfare Programme, with the support of AKU medical experts. AKUH Nairobi provided welfare assistance worth US$ 1.22 million to 1,757 patients during the same period.

Your donation will help the University Hospital provide quality care to patients through the harnessing of technology, and the latest knowledge and research.