Professor Abdul Rashid Ghatrad OBE, the UK’s most respected pediatric consultant, has called on the Pakistani government to strengthen vocational training in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals for disadvantaged children.
As CEO of Midland International Trust (MIAT), Professor Abdul Rashid Ghatrad has raised more than £3 million for various health-related projects around the world. He and his colleagues built the most modern hospital in Gujarat, Pakistan. The project was completed so professionally and successfully that ITV made a 15-minute documentary. All services, including operations, are funded mainly by Muslim and Pakistani donors in the West Midlands.
A lecturer in paediatrics and child health at three universities – the University of Birmingham, the University of Kentucky and Wolverhampton – he was awarded an OBE by the Queen. In 2014, he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel by the Queen for his services. In the same year, he was appointed Freeman of Walsall County to reduce the infant mortality rate by half, and later became involved in Hepatitis vaccine research, which spread throughout the world.
Originally born in India but working in Pakistan, Prof Gatrad met the chairman of Midland International Aid Trust UK (MIAT) in 2003, Mr Khawaja Muhammad Aslam, a Pakistani bus driver and businessman. He invited him to become CEO in 2005. Since then, the charity has made a big difference to the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world, especially children. At the time, MIAT was only £20,000 and Pakistan was the only country receiving humanitarian aid. Since then, Rasheed has invested time, effort, energy and money to make MIAT truly global – now in more than 20 countries.
Professor Abdul Rashid Ghatrad, who worked as a postman before becoming a doctor in 1971, financed a modern 3-level hospital with audiology, speech therapy, dental services, 2 wards and 2 operating theaters with the help of MIAT. The hospital is supported by 4 doctors who work 24 hours a day and provide free medical care to patients in the area, including those who travel from distant countries. There is a playground in the hospital yard. Then, in 2016, he met a teenage beggar on a stick during a visit to Gujarat. His feet were bare and bleeding. This led Professor Rashid Ghatrad to set up a tribal center from the club, which now treats hundreds of people from birth – avoiding surgery when they are old.
This will be good for the long-term development of Pakistan. He is currently not focused on this area. We are ready to work with Pakistan to support this effort. We are done a large maternity and children’s hospital named after my mother in Gujarat, which is now dedicated to surgery. It shows what this hospital can achieve. Our charity’s mission is to reduce poverty and improve health outcomes for thousands of people 20 countries in Africa and Asia through sustainable projects.
MIAT has provided medical equipment and the hospital is attracting more people to Gujarat. After I set up a foot club center in this hospital in 2016, Ruth Lawson from the British High Commission attended the opening to witness the qualified international club/club team I had assembled from the UK. The 20-strong Overseas Plastic Surgery Appeals (OPSA) team traveled to Pakistan twice a year which has a clear and targeted intervention model. An integrated and multidisciplinary approach to child care. This practice allows children to learn through, for example, hearing and speech therapy. An intensive care unit is currently being built, funded by MIAT.
