Archive for the ‘Women Health’ Category

I am staring at a picture of myself 21 years back. I am a little older than Sara but with the same innocent smile and eyes spilling over with mischief. It could have been me lying flat on the floor of a posh hotel lobby, electrocuted to near death. And it is slowly sinking in… how every child holds within them their parents universe. I have been singularly covering three and a half year old Sara’s story for 4 days now, fighting off pressure from all corners. This is no achievement of mine. It is an excuse to ponder over the questions we no longer ask ourselves collectively, as a nation. Questions to which, answers are neither simple nor easy. How will Pakistan develop a collective consciousness? How do you make Pakistanis care for and respect one another? How do you make Pakistanis strong and brave enough for them to stop getting intimidated from any pressure or threat, whether personal, corporate or from another country? How do you inculcate a sense of community amongst Pakistanis? And finally, how do you make Pakistanis work hard for the development of this community? These are daunting questions indeed.

For those of you who are still unaware of whom Sara is, she is these daunting questions personified. Her limp body lying in one of Lahore’s private hospitals is symbolic of one and only one truth: we are a nation petrified. Reason, humanity, morality, courage all fade out in the face of pressure, connections and money. Sara was electrocuted in one of the leading chains of Pakistani hotels, the Pearl Continental. Criminal negligence on behalf of the hotel management, in failing to ensure safety precautions with regard to the decorative lights lining the hotel lobby, led to leakage of current and almost immediately, collapse of Sara’s heart and brain. She remains alive on machines, lost in coma, and disowned by governments both federal and provincial. The terror of Hashwaani Group has rendered most of mainstream media silent, the government inactive, and the law enforcing agencies reluctant. Nevertheless, media pressure, if only from one group, finally ensured the registration of a FIR much to the dismay of PC Hotel, only to be followed by a suo-moto notice of the case by the Chief Justice of Pakistan himself. Till Friday, June 11 PC management managed to avoid answering any questions or exhibiting moral courage to appear on television and give their stance. Wednesday, June 9 General Manager PC agreed to appear in front of the curious nation, only to decline one hour before the show went on air, leaving us with a shocking official stance of PC with regards to Sara, that of  ‘no comments’. Alas a public notice was printed in all leading newspapers of the country by the lawyer on behalf of his client PC; a dismaying, distorted version of the truth, ridding the leading hotel of all responsibility of Sara’s condition and the unfortunate event itself. All possible absurdities were exercised in print, ranging from Sara having choked on her food to preaching parenting to Sara’s parents and clients in general. The public notice even went on to concoct lies in the form of an ambulance and first aid being present at the hotel at the time of the accident, contrary to the fact that if it had been the case, Sara would probably be in a far better medical condition than she is in now. However, classic was the warning! The public notice in not so many words threatened my channel and I, including Sara’s parents, of “action” that will be taken against us for daring to malign the reputation of the hotel. Media, it read, for ‘unknown reasons’ had hyped up the issue!         

The problem here is not of explaining to the learned advocate and his client that professional medical records attest the fact that Sara did not merely choke, but was electrocuted nor that choking does not result in burn marks of the entry and exit of electric current- the same being blatantly visible on Sara’s body. Neither is it time to explain to the PC and its well reputed advocate that parenting lessons and hallucinations of conspiracy can be left to another day. The fact is, Sara is lying on a time bomb. Instead of wasting millions of rupees in professional fees to a lawyer and printed public notices, lost credibility and damaged reputation can be rescued by merely exhibiting sensitivity and moral courage. Every hotel has dedicated funds for such accidents and emergencies. PC needs to step up and do immediate damage control by flying Sara out of Pakistan for the best medical treatment available in the world. Now is not the time to fret over legalities and indulge in blame games but to prove to the world that PC is indeed committed to its client’s wellbeing, health and security. Loud claims, tag lines and drawing out 5 stars is child play, put the money where your mouth is. 

My detailed conversations with some of the PR personnel and management of PC, during the time I was trying to convince them to display courage and join me on television, ended up only convincing myself that they might just be beyond reason. Alas, the hotel management was suspicious of whose tunes Sara’s parents and I might be dancing to. For the love of God, explain to the high and mighty, raising the voice for justice does not mean some of us are on the payrolls of your competitors or enemies. Coupled with this, only hard cynicism and ruthless bitterness would convince someone that a dying baby’s parents would be more interested in squeezing financial mileage out of the crisis that envelops them.   However, what is even more interesting is the complete distance the government of Punjab has maintained from this entire case. For reasons known to many and unknown to the rest, ‘Khadim-e-Alaa’ is unwilling to own a dying Sara altogether. His government claims this case is strictly between a private party and the police. Explain to me please, when your law enforcing agencies refuse to register a FIR for 11 days and extend any possible aid to citizens of your province, just how does this remain a case not deserving of your attention and time? I will not even indulge in the moral demands expected of the CM, such as a helpless mother appealing to him for help, exposing her vulnerability to the world by admitting she does not have the financial means to get her infected, lifeless daughter treated abroad. Silence continued to echo from the chambers of Khadim-e-Alaa till late Saturday afternoon. The first intervention came in the form of an activated Rana Sanaullah, taking the law, order and humanitarian demands of the case in his hands. Currently, he has given his personal assurance to media that Sara’s medical costs will be fully taken care of and a medical board will be constituted at the earliest to monitor her health.    

Deteriorating law and order situation has made it mandatory for all hotels to maintain records of their CCTV footage for 14 days before erasing it. This critical piece of evidence has been withheld by PC management to date.  Investigations and criminal proceedings will unfold at their own pace; a little child in the mean time is battling against time and tide – both of which wait for no man. It is ironic how the unfortunate death of a young boy in an amusement park caught the attention of all of media and even put into action our forever frenzied Interior Minister in shutting down all such parks in Islamabad, suspending the concerned officials and contractors, yet little Sara remains largely unnoticed. Corporate pressures and political overtones continue to thrive in my country. It is high time indeed we seek answers to the questions Sara has raised. This is time for collective reflection and introspection, what does it mean to be a Pakistani?

International Women’s Day 2009: celebrated in style and grandeur with an impressive panelist of 12 leading women from all walks of life. A special heartfelt prayer for all our sisters in F.A.T.A: the fate of whom are in the hands of misguided miscreants. Answers to questions such as, who is a woman of substance and what should be the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day etc. are sought by an enlightened audience of young women. 

Let us all come together on one platform and strive to become compassionate and strong women, who can not only hold their own but can in fact contribute towards ensuring a healthy, balanced and peaceful society. 

On-Air: Friday, January 16, 2009 {10AM, 3AM, 4PM (PST)}

A phenomenon as common as cousin marriages in Pakistan continues to thrive and go unquestioned to date. Consanguineous marriages flourish for reasons such strengthening family bonds and upholding castes, familiar value system and known circumstances, secured futures, retaining land, property and wealth within the family, decreased risks of divorce, issues regarding dowry etc. Based on this perceived economic and social security offered by consanguineous marriages the natural biasness is often overlooked, including the health hazards that accompany it: repetition of genes can cause genetic disorders and diseases (down syndrome, hemophilia, depression, blinding disorders, psychological defects, blood cancer, breathing problems for children at birth etc.), making the children more susceptible and prone to family hereditary diseases (A BBC report found that Pakistanis in Britain, 55% of whom marry a first cousin, are 13 times more likely than the general population to produce children with genetic disorders, and that one in ten children of cousin marriages either dies in infancy or develops a serious disability. Thus Pakistani-Britons, who account for some 3% of all births in the UK, produce “just under a third” of all British children with genetic illnesses). The fact that such marriages mitigate social networking and growth is another lost concept.  Interestingly, consanguineous marriages are not just a local phenomenon but a widely practiced custom in Asia, North Africa, South Asia, Middle East and some parts of China and Japan (Under the 31 state laws in USA, cousin marriages are completely banned or permitted only after the couple obtain genetic counseling or is beyond reproductive age or if one partner is sterile. In Canada, Europe and Asia no such laws exist. Interestingly, in some cultures it is viewed as incestuous). According to one report, Punjab and Baluchistan show a higher ratio of first cousin marriages (53-54.4% respectively) in comparison to Sind (49.7%) and NWFP (38.8%).  It was interesting as we received calls from both victims of the ‘successive inter-family marriage genetic explosions’ in the form of deaf and blind children but also from people wondering whether inter-family marriages should be avoided altogether. The point of addressing this topic was by no means to preach what is right or wrong, but in fact to highlight the health hazards which are often overlooked altogether. Even though it is believed that a gap of three generations significantly reduces the health risk in future generations, in light of new technology and science we recommend genetic screening if consanguineous marriages are to be carried out i.e. before marrying a close relative, the prospective couple must have a  complete medical checkup.  

On-Air: Friday, December 19, 2008 {10am, 4pm, 3am (PST)}

In a time and age when freedom of the press and the boldness of media know no bounds, social responsibility and awareness have taken on a new meaning altogether.  Just a few weeks ago, my parents hit the roof when I told them that for my Health Friday episode of the week I was going to address Menstruation called ‘Mahwaari’ in Urdu. I figured that it was crucial that I use my platform to raise a health issue so common to women all across the globe yet heavily tabooed in our part of the world. By no means did I wish to tear through cultural bounds of respect and decency, but what can one do - it’s an issue our women are constantly in need of more knowledge and information on. Rest assured, the episode was a huge hit! For todays Health Friday we addressed an issue that women are fortunately not in constant but are definitely desperate need of:  Ovarian Cancer. This is owing to the fact that not only are our medical experts ignorant of this second most common cancer for women after breast cancer, but also due to the lack of research, awareness and knowledge of this type of cancer.  The fact that ovarian cancer has no distinguishable or unique symptoms only makes it worse:

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