Leah Kamau (pictured at centre), the Head Nurse at Kampala Hospital, trained at AKU-SONAM in Uganda. Currently...

AKU / Samuel Mwangi

AKU-SONAM alumna Pendo Bukori (right) is a Cervical Cancer Screening Field Officer at Tanzania Health Promotio...

AKU / Hendri Lombard

Agnes Ojok has been working at the Aga Khan Hospital in Kisumu ever since she graduated with a diploma in nurs...

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

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AKU nurses on assignment in Morogoro, Tanzania.

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

The School’s impact on the development of nursing in Pakistan has been remarkable. Its curriculum has served as a template for the national nursing curriculum and its focus on community health has inspired other schools to follow its example.


As of 2021, 80 percent of nursing schools in Pakistan with recognised degree programmes were led by AKU graduates. In 2001, the University began offering nursing degree programmes in East Africa, and has since educated more than 3,000 nurses in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.


In East Africa and Pakistan, AKU-educated nurses act as change agents and leaders by providing outstanding care and by working to improve the quality of care provided by other nurses. AKU’s alumni lead nursing schools, serve as hospital head nurses and lead professional organisations.


The performance of the graduates in moving the nursing profession forward within Pakistan and internationally is impressive. Further, its role in the development of women within Pakistan and the Islamic context is incomparable and exceedingly important. In just over 25 years, it has demonstrated immense development, which will ensure that it will hold an important place in the history of the nursing profession.

International panel of nursing leaders, during an external review of the School’s first 25 years in Pakistan.