Dr. Pramila Lall, one of Pakistan’s most revered Christian medical professionals and a trailblazer in ophthalmology, passed away peacefully on Saturda, Jan. 3, at the age of 93 at the Christian Hospital Taxila, where she served humanity for nearly seven decades.
Widely recognized as Pakistan’s first female ophthalmologist, Lall devoted more than 50 years to the Taxila Christian Hospital in Punjab Province, providing low-cost, high-quality eye care to millions of patients, most of them from poor and underserved communities. She is also believed to have performed the highest number of eye surgeries by any woman ophthalmologist in Asia, with estimates placing the figure at over half-a-million procedures during her lifetime.
Born in 1932 in Kerala, India, Lall graduated from the prestigious Christian Medical College, Vellore, in 1957. During her student years, she met Dr. Ernest Lall, a Pakistani national, whom she married the same year. The marriage brought her to Pakistan, where she joined the Christian Hospital in the historic city of Taxila, about 32 kilometers northwest of the federal capital, Islamabad.
She went on to earn a Diploma in Ophthalmology from London in 1964, becoming Pakistan’s first woman specialist in the field. Her international standing continued to grow as she received a Fellowship of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists in 1980 and was later nominated as an international member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology in 1987.
In 1976, Lall again made history by becoming the first woman in Pakistan to perform intraocular implant surgery, a major advance in modern eye care. A founding member of the Rawalpindi chapter of the Ophthalmological Society of Pakistan, she trained generations of national and international doctors in eye surgery and clinical ophthalmology. She also served on the National Steering Committee for the Prevention of Blindness and played a central role in postgraduate medical training as head of the ophthalmology department at Christian Hospital.
Her life story — marked by resilience, service, and cross-border humanism — was captured in a rare interview with Arab News in December 2019, where she reflected on her journey from India to Pakistan and her lifelong mission to combat blindness.
Recalling her childhood, Lall told the news outlet that she once struggled with a speech defect that made her shy and withdrawn.
“When I was young, I had a speech defect. I couldn’t speak out… My only hope was to be a veterinarian and take care of animals since I didn’t need to talk to them,” she said. It was her mother, she recalled, who insisted that she become a doctor despite the family's financial constraints.
Describing her arrival in Pakistan in September 1957, she recounted crossing the Wagah border shortly after Partition’s wounds were still fresh. An Indian immigration officer tried to dissuade the young couple from leaving, while a Pakistani official welcomed them warmly.
“Crossing over, the Pakistani immigration official said: ‘Welcome to Pakistan. We need doctors in this country,’” she said, adding that she later changed her nationality to permanently serve in Pakistan.
Despite facing suspicion during the 1965 and 1971 wars because of her Indian origin, Lall chose to stay. At one point, overwhelmed by the pressure and patient load, she considered immigrating to Canada. But a letter from her father convinced her otherwise. Quoting him, she told the new outlet: “Once you put your hand to the plow, you don’t turn back. Stick to your job and have faith in God.”
Lall's selfless service earned her numerous national and international honors, including the Paul Harrison Award in 1983 for meritorious services to the blind, and the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz (Award of Excellence) in 2002, conferred by Pakistan's former president, retired general Pervez Musharraf. During the award ceremony, she even used the moment to advocate for Christian rights, later telling Arab News that she asked the president to “do something for the rights of the minorities.”
Extending condolences to her family, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday, Jan. 4, expressed deep grief over Lall’s passing.
“Dr. Pramila Lall has played an important role in providing affordable eye treatment to millions of patients during her 70-year career,” he said in a statement, adding that her services to the poor would always be remembered. He also noted that she had been awarded the Sitara-i-Imtiaz in recognition of her contributions.
According to Dr. Nadeem David, the administrator of the Taxila Christian Hospital, Lall’s funeral is expected to be held on Tuesday, Jan. 6, after the arrival of her three children from the United States. She will be laid to rest within the hospital premises, beside the grave of her late husband, Dr. Ernest Lall, who died in March 2019.
In one of her final reflections to the Middle East news outlet, Lall summed up a life defined by quiet faith and service: “Lord! Use me as long as you can, but I am ready to go to you whenever you call me.”
