Shaukat Khanum Karachi Cancer Hospital to Open on 29 December 2026
Shaukat Khanum's Karachi cancer hospital in DHA City is due to open on 29 December 2026. See its size, cost and what Sindh patients should do until it opens.
Shaukat Khanum's new cancer hospital in Karachi is due to open on 29 December 2026. The hospital's chief medical officer, Dr Aasim Yusuf, gave the date at a media briefing at the site, published on 8 October 2026. The hospital's own website says it will open "as planned in December 2026".
The hospital is being built in DHA City, Karachi. It will be the third Shaukat Khanum hospital after Lahore and Peshawar, and the trust calls it the largest of the three. Until it opens, patients from Sindh still start at the existing Karachi walk-in clinic or travel to Lahore.
Shaukat Khanum Karachi opens on 29 December 2026
The opening date announced at the site briefing is 29 December 2026. Shaukat Khanum's website confirms the month, December 2026, but does not print the exact day. Finishing work is still going on, and staff are being hired now.
Dr Yusuf said the main equipment has reached the site and is being installed. That list includes linear accelerators, the machines that give radiotherapy, and a cyclotron, which makes the tracer used in PET scans. Air conditioning, ventilation and power generators are also on site.
A date given at a briefing is a target, not a promise. Large hospitals often open in stages, with outpatient clinics first and full wards later. We will update this when the hospital publishes its first patient intake details.
The Karachi hospital will be twice the size of Lahore
At full capacity, the Karachi hospital will be twice the size of the Lahore hospital, Dr Yusuf said. He put its cost at Rs 30 billion. The trust's website says it will treat patients from Karachi, the rest of Sindh and southern Balochistan.
| Item | What was announced |
|---|---|
| Opening date | 29 December 2026 (website says December 2026) |
| Location | Plot 1, Health Care Sector, DHA City, Karachi |
| Cost | Rs 30 billion, as stated at the briefing |
| Size | Twice the Lahore hospital at full capacity |
| Areas served | Karachi, rest of Sindh, southern Balochistan |
| Key equipment | Linear accelerators and a cyclotron, being installed |
Size matters here because of the queue. Dr Yusuf said Karachi hospitals see more than 13,000 new cancer patients every year, and that care there is often split between many places or too costly. The trust's website puts Pakistan's yearly cancer burden at an estimated 190,000 cases.
Sindh patients will no longer need the train to Lahore
For now, a cancer patient from Sindh who wants Shaukat Khanum treatment has to go to Lahore or Peshawar for most of it. The trust's own patient stories describe this. One Karachi patient wrote of a biopsy in one part of the city, scans in another, and then a train to Lahore.
That journey costs money that many families do not have. Lodging, food and a relative's lost wages add up over months of chemotherapy. A full hospital in Karachi removes that cost for a large share of patients from Sindh and Balochistan.
It will not end every waiting list. Shaukat Khanum assesses each new patient and accepts only some, based on the type and stage of cancer. That rule is not expected to change in Karachi. The hospital has not published its Karachi admission rules yet.
What a Karachi cancer patient should do before December
Do not wait for the new building if treatment is needed now. Cancer does not pause for an opening date. Start at a hospital that is open today and keep the paperwork, because it will help you later in any hospital.
- Keep every report: biopsy, scans, blood tests and the doctor's notes, in one folder.
- Get the original CNIC or B-Form of the patient ready, plus copies.
- Visit the existing Shaukat Khanum walk-in clinic in Karachi to be assessed, or go to a public cancer centre in the city.
- Ask about financial help at the same visit. Shaukat Khanum's assessment includes a check of what the family can pay.
- Do not stop treatment elsewhere to wait for the Karachi hospital. Move only if your doctor agrees.
The walk-in clinic times, documents and phone numbers are in how to get cancer treatment at Shaukat Khanum. For other free care in the city, free treatment at Indus Hospital lists its locations and timings.
Free care depends on donations, the trust says
Shaukat Khanum says most of its patients are treated free or at a lower cost. Dr Yusuf said that free care is an ongoing cost, not a one-time need. The trust's budget for 2026 is Rs 43.2 billion, he said, under pressure from patient numbers, medicine costs and doctors leaving the country.
The Karachi website asks for donations to finish the remaining work. It also says that tests at Shaukat Khanum's own labs help fund the Karachi hospital. We are not asking anyone to give. We note it because it explains how the hospital plans to pay for free treatment once it opens.
October is also breast cancer awareness month. A lump found early is far easier to treat. Places offering a free breast cancer check in October are listed by city.
Common questions
When does Shaukat Khanum Karachi open?
On 29 December 2026, according to the chief medical officer's briefing published on 8 October 2026. The hospital's website says December 2026.
Where is Shaukat Khanum Karachi?
In DHA City, Karachi, at Plot 1 of the Health Care Sector. DHA City is on the Super Highway side of Karachi, well outside the city centre.
Will treatment at Shaukat Khanum Karachi be free?
The trust treats most of its patients free or at lower cost after a financial assessment. It has not published Karachi rules yet, but it says the same mission will apply.
Can I register as a patient at the Karachi hospital now?
No registration for the new hospital has been announced. New patients can go to the existing Karachi walk-in clinic for assessment.
How big will the Karachi hospital be?
Twice the size of the Lahore hospital at full capacity, Dr Yusuf said. The cost given was Rs 30 billion.
Will it treat patients from Balochistan?
Yes. The trust says the Karachi hospital will serve Karachi, the rest of Sindh and southern Balochistan.
How we verified this
What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.
Last checked 9 October 2026. The December 2026 opening, the DHA City location, the areas served and the 190,000 yearly cancer cases come from Shaukat Khanum's own website, on its Karachi hospital page and its hospitals page. The 29 December date, Rs 30 billion cost, twice-Lahore size, 13,000 Karachi patients, equipment list and Rs 43.2 billion budget come from Dr Aasim Yusuf's briefing at the Karachi site, published on 8 October 2026 as a Shaukat Khanum statement. We did not find that statement on the hospital's website on 9 October, so the exact date is reported, not read on an official page.
About the author
Public Services and Education Journalist
Fajr Riaz is a journalist and content writer at Pakistan Era, based in Lahore. She covers the questions people meet in everyday life in Pakistan: how a public service works, what a change in the rules means, and where to find a reliable answer.
