A world-class trauma hospital, gifted by the UAE, now lies functionally paralyzed — the result not of war or disaster, but political sabotage.
🇦🇪 A Hospital That Symbolized Hope
In 2010, following the devastating floods that ravaged Swat, the people of this mountainous region received an unexpected but much-needed gesture of solidarity: the Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Model Hospital, built and gifted by the United Arab Emirates.
This was no ordinary hospital.
Constructed by the National Logistics Cell (NLC) and aligned with World Health Organization (WHO) standards, it was designed as a state-of-the-art trauma center — the first of its kind in Pakistan.
It came equipped with:
110 fully functional beds
Dedicated neuro and spinal surgery units
Full-fledged cardiology department with ICU and CCU
Modern gynecology and pediatric wards
Orthopedic and surgical theaters
A rooftop helipad for air ambulance services
In short, it was everything that Swat — a region battered by terrorism, floods, and neglect — deserved but never had.
🏥 Not Just Another Ward: It Was Built to Be Independent
The Sheikh Zayed Model Hospital was never meant to be a secondary unit or a branch of an existing medical complex.
It was designed to operate independently, with its own:
Management
Specialist doctors (appointed via Public Service Commission)
Full-time staff in all departments
Emergency response system, both ground and aerial.It was, simply put, a fully autonomous medical city within a valley.
So what happened?
⚠️ From Gift to Ghost: How Politics Hijacked Public Health
Over the years, through a carefully quiet process of political interference, this landmark hospital was absorbed — without justification — into the Saidu Group of Teaching Hospitals, the long-standing public healthcare body in Swat.
What followed was devastating:
The post of Medical Superintendent was never filled.
Specialist doctors, hired for Sheikh Zayed Hospital, were re-posted or merged into Saidu Group.
Equipment either went unused or disappeared.
The promised air ambulance system was never activated.
The hospital was quietly reduced to a basic emergency unit.A world-class trauma hospital, that could have saved hundreds of lives annually, now struggles to offer a functioning syringe or thermometer.
🏛️ Saidu Group vs. Sheikh Zayed: A Tale of Two Systems
The Saidu Group of Teaching Hospitals itself has a proud, long-standing history.
Established decades ago and later upgraded to a teaching hospital, it serves thousands across Swat, Shangla, Buner, and parts of Malakand.
But instead of functioning alongside the Sheikh Zayed Model Hospital, it slowly absorbed it, stripping the trauma center of its identity, staff, and structure.
And while Saidu Group remains overburdened and under-resourced, a fully equipped second hospital lies dormant in its shadow.
Why?
Because letting Sheikh Zayed Model Hospital run independently would have meant less control for local political stakeholders, reduced space for nepotism, and more public accountability — things our politics often avoids.
🤔 The Questions That No One Dares to Ask
Who gave the political go-ahead to merge a foreign-funded, self-sufficient hospital into another system?
Why was its full-time specialist staff silently transferred or neutralized?
Where are the original funds, machines, and systems intended for Sheikh Zayed Hospital?
Why didn’t Swat’s public representatives speak up — when their people were losing access to world-class care?And perhaps the most uncomfortable question:
Is this how we treat international generosity?
🤐 The Silence of Leadership, The Cost to the Public
Despite repeated administrative failures and resource shortages, no action has been taken to restore the hospital’s independent status.
No official inquiry has been launched.
No politician has raised a voice.
Even the public — fatigued by years of neglect — remains largely unaware that they ever had a hospital like this.
