KARACHI: Senior gynaecologist Dr Shereen Zulfiqar Bhutta, who was in her 60s, passed away on Monday night in Toronto, Canada, following protracted illness.

She joined the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre in 1989 and headed the department of obstetrics and gynaecology for over a decade and retired in 2017.

She undertook several initiatives with philanthropic assistance to bring significant improvement in maternal service delivery.

Dr Bhutta had over 30-year experience as a teacher/ trainer for medical students and postgraduate trainees and also served as the vice president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Pakistan, a member of the Faculty of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and a counsellor of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan as well as a member of the Pakistan Representative Committee of Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists London.

She was recognised nationally and internationally for her contributions to the specialty and was awarded by the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO)in 2009.

She also served on the Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health Committee of FIGO and oversaw a major FIGOSOGP Project on community based interventions to reduce maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity in rural Sindh.

She was the principal investigator of several projects awarded by the World Health Organization and Pakistan Medical and Research Council, and was profiled in the `L ancet`in 2010 in recognition of services rendered nationally & internationally.

She left behind two sons and as many daughters.

Her husband, Dr Zulfiqar Bhutta, is the Founding Director of the Institute of Global Health and Development and the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health at Aga Khan University.