AMC Team Meets Dr. Amir Farooqy, Acting Medical Director of Shaukat Khanum Peshawar

Abstract
The Afghan Medical Complex (AMC), under the Atta Welfare Foundation, held a second meeting with Dr. Amir Farooqy, Acting Medical Director of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital in Peshawar. Dr. Farooqy personally guided AMC’s team through the facility, providing detailed insights into patient wards, diagnostics, treatment areas, and support services. He highlighted critical lessons in patient flow, infection control, diagnostic integration, and staff and patient-centred design, emphasising the importance of foresight in planning. This candid knowledge sharing offered AMC invaluable guidance as it prepares to build Afghanistan’s first dedicated oncology hospital. The meeting reinforced AMC’s commitment to regional collaboration and learning, ensuring its hospital will provide free to affordable, quality, and local cancer treatment tailored to Afghanistan’s unique needs.

Introduction

The Afghan Medical Complex (AMC) by Atta Welfare Foundation had the great pleasure of meeting Dr. Amir Farooqy for the second time, the Acting Medical Director of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital, Peshawar branch. This visit was an opportunity not only to learn from one of the region’s leading cancer institutions but also to reflect on the lessons Afghanistan must take into account as we plan the country’s first dedicated oncology hospital.

A Guided Tour with Insight

We are deeply grateful to Dr. Amir Farooqy for personally giving our team a tour of the Peshawar facility. Throughout the visit, he exposed us to the wide variety of clinical, conditional, and environmental spaces that make up a modern cancer hospital.From patient wards to diagnostic facilities, treatment areas, and support services, every part of the tour offered insights into the complexity of planning, designing, and managing a multi-oncology centre.

Lessons for Afghanistan

What made this tour especially valuable was Dr. Farooqy’s willingness to share the challenges Shaukat Khanum faced during its journey. He highlighted the importance of careful planning in areas such as:

Patient flow and space management

Environmental safety and infection control

Diagnostic and treatment integration

Staff facilities and patient-centred design

His candid observations served as an important reminder: if planning is not done with foresight and attention to detail, hospitals can face challenges that affect both patients and staff.

For AMC, these lessons are invaluable. They will guide our architectural, engineering, and operational decisions as we prepare to build a hospital designed for Afghanistan’s unique needs.

Building Bridges of Knowledge

The time spent with Dr. Farooqy was more than a tour — it was an act of knowledge sharing and mentorship. By learning from Shaukat Khanum’s experiences, AMC is better positioned to avoid potential pitfalls and to design systems that will provide free to affordable, quality, and local cancer treatment in Afghanistan.

Conclusion

The Afghan Medical Complex team expresses its deepest gratitude to Dr. Amir Farooqy for his hospitality, openness, and guidance during our visit to Shaukat Khanum Peshawar. His insights will play an important role in shaping AMC’s path forward.

This meeting strengthened our belief that regional collaboration and shared experience are vital to building sustainable healthcare systems in Afghanistan.