Pakistan-born | Pakistan

LONDON: A Pakistan-born cardiothoracic surgeon working in the United Kingdom has been named in the New Year Honours List, receiving the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his distinguished professional achievements and humanitarian work. Professor Syed Saeed Ashraf, a consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at Morriston Hospital in Swansea, Wales, was awarded for services to cardiac surgery, the training of overseas surgeons and his academic contributions. Swansea Bay University Health Board announced the honour on New Year’s Eve, describing Dr Ashraf as an outstanding clinician who extends life-saving expertise to developing countries. Dr Ashraf regularly uses his annual leave to perform voluntary, complex heart operations at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases in Karachi, Pakistan. He primarily treats young patients suffering from rheumatic valvular heart disease — a condition now rare in Western countries but prevalent in South Asia — and Afghan refugees receiving free care in Pakistan. During o...