New facility on the border targets Afghanistan

The Pak-Afghan Healthcare Referral Facility has been opened in Torkham on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

The aim of the facility is to provide emergency health services to Afghan nationals, tourists on the border and also to Pakistani citizens who are working on the border. Many will be able to be treated there, so only a minority will need to travel further into Pakistan for treatment.

The government of Pakistan plans to also attract medical tourists from Afghanistan by building a hospital in the border district of Khyber. The public-private partnership may expand from one hospital to a healthcare city, with many outlets. As well as benefitting from the income, the plan is to strengthen political ties with Afghanistan.