KARACHI: The former director of NICH and founder of the Child Aid Association Professor Dr Nizam ul Hasan has died of COVID-19 at a private hospital in Karachi. 

The news was announced by the Child Aid Association on Facebook. 

“Members and staff of Child Aid Association express deep and heartfelt condolences to the grieving family and join in their prayers for the deceased,” the organisation said.

The funeral was held on Wednesday evening at the graveyard in DHA Phase 8, the association added. 

Dr Hasan was a noted paediatric surgeon who founded the Child Aid Association in 1979. The association is affiliated with the National Institute of Child Health and treats children with cancer free of charge.

The deceased surgeon was also a former president of the Asian Association of Paediatric Surgeons, past editorial board chairman of the Journal of Pakistan Medical Association and former treasurer of the Pakistan Medical Association (Centre).

The second wave of coronavirus in Pakistan has so far claimed the lives of six doctors in the country and two in Karachi, according to Pakistan Medical Association Secretary- General Dr Qaiser Sajjad.

A total of 90 health workers had died of COVID-19 in Pakistan as of November 2, according to data compiled by the Sindh Health Department. There have been 8,404 confirmed cases in health workers, with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reporting 2,512–the highest among the provinces.