Fact-check: Work on Shaukat Khanum Hospital in Karachi ongoing, not halted by PDM

Dr Faisal Sultan said there may be some delays “due to various reasons” such as supply chain disruptions etc

Geo Fact-Check

Updated Thursday Aug 10 2023

A video, which has drawn tens of thousands of views, is being falsely claimed online to show that the coalition government has halted construction on former prime minister Imran Khan’s Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital in Karachi, Sindh.

Claim

“Shaukat Khanum Hospital in Karachi was to be inaugurated on August 14,” wrote a user on X, formerly Twitter, on July 30, “Now all construction work has been stopped. Thank you PDM government and PPP which has always targeted projects in Karachi.”

The user also posted a video of an abandoned and incomplete building. A man in the voiceover can be heard saying that it was a “national tragedy” that all work has been halted.

“Look what they [PDM] have done to us,” the voice added.

The video has been viewed over 49,000 times and reposted 1,000 times.

The same video was shared on Facebook alongside claims: “How sad is this…The project of Shaukat Khanum Hospital Karachi has been suspended due to sheer animosity against Imran Khan and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.”

Fact

Construction on the Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital in Karachi is ongoing and has not been halted, confirms the Hospital’s administration.

“Work [on the Hospital] began in 2019 and will finish sometime in 2024,” said Dr Faisal Sultan, the CEO at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centers.

Sultan told Geo Fact Check that there may be some delays “due to various reasons” such as supply chain disruptions etc.

The doctor also rubbished claims on social media that the Hospital was slated to open on August 14. “There was no such announcement,” he said.

With additional reporting by Nadia Khalid.