The Aga Khan Hospital for Women, Karimabad (formerly known as Aga Khan Maternity Home, Karimabad) is part of the Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS). Established in 1979, the Hospital is a 41-bed maternity facility offering quality health care.
The Hospital provides specialised obstetrics and gynaecology, surgery and family planning services, specialist clinics and high-tech diagnostic services. Located on the premises, the Aga Khan Diagnostic and Day Surgery Centre, Karimabad complements the hospital with easily accessible diagnostic and surgical services.
They are part of the AKHS international referral system, with links to the Aga Khan Hospital, Nairobi and the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi.
In 2004, the Hospital was awarded the ISO 9001: 2000 (International Standardisation Organisation) certificate. This certification is awarded only when a hospital's clinical, diagnostic, administrative and support services confirm to the ISO standards.
The Hospital and primary medical centres are part of the Aga Khan Health Services, which is one of the most comprehensive private, not-for-profit health care systems in the developing world. It includes 325 health centres, dispensaries, hospitals, diagnostic centres and community health outlets. Building on the Ismaili Community's health care efforts in the first half of the 20th century, AKHS now provides primary health care and curative medical care in India, Pakistan, Kenya, Tanzania, and Syria. It includes five general hospitals, seven maternity homes/hospitals and 187 health centres/dispensaries.
The first institution established as part of the Aga Khan Health Service, Pakistan (AKHS,P) was a 42-bed maternity hospital - formerly known as the Janbai Maternity Home - which opened in Karachi in 1924. Today, while maintaining that early focus on maternal and child health, AKHS,P also offers services that range from primary health care to diagnostic services and curative care. Its 164 health centres, seven hospitals, maternity home, two medical centres, physiotherapy unit and seven community dental units reach over 581,000 people in the provinces of Sindh, Punjab, Frontier, Northern Areas and Chitral. As the largest not-for-profit private health care system in Pakistan, its goal is to supplement the Government's efforts in health care provision, especially in the areas of maternal and child health and primary health care.
Aga Khan Health Service, Pakistan also operates six diagnostic centres with consultant services and laboratory facilities in different parts of Pakistan. AKHS, P manages over 1000 employees, around 4000 dedicated volunteers, over 1500 Trained Birth Attendants (TBAs) and Community Health Workers (CHWs) working in different regions.
AKHS activities are conducted in concert with other health-related activities of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). The overall aim is to raise the health status of people in Pakistan and elsewhere in the developing world. Emphasis, in current projects, is on strengthening health systems development.
The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) works with a variety of grantees, including AKHS, to improve the health of vulnerable population groups, especially mothers and children, and promote health services development on the national and regional levels.
AKF and AKHS have been joined in their work in health care by the Aga Khan University's Faculty of Health Sciences, which offers accredited professional training, especially for nurses, and conducts a variety of research programmes focused on the health problems of developing nations.
The AKDN aims to assist countries in the building of effective, sustainable health systems that link different kinds of services and levels of care. For more information, please visit the AKDN website.