Your child needs surgery – come back in 2016
Here’s something interesting that happened a few days ago. I was going about my routine afternoon work when I was interrupted by a lady who walked into my office with a cute four-year-old boy by her side. The lady introduced herself as the daughter of a maid who used to work at our house a long time ago. As she spoke I could not help but notice the little boy, Rehman was his name, as he had already started fiddling with a pen that had been sitting on my desk. As my attention shifted back to the mother, she handed me ...
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The politics of doctors’ protests
Fifty per cent of the general cadre doctors in Punjab retire while still in the basic pay scale (BPS). The health department, like many other government departments, doesn’t have clearly defined requirements procedure which, once attained, put you into the next pay scale. This is what the doctors call a service structure and are fighting for in Punjab these days. The issue came in to the limelight this time when 691 new doctors were recruited by the Punjab government through the Punjab Public Service Commission. The government had to transfer around 450 doctors to adjust these new doctors which infuriated ...
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The barber, the doctors and the striking workers
“Uncle” works at the barber shop I frequent. The aging Balakot native has seen his share of hardships since I’ve known him. In 2005 he, like thousands of others in Balakot, was left homeless in the aftermath of the earthquake. After returning to Islamabad, he worked tirelessly to save enough money to start afresh, not an easy task for someone contemplating retirement only weeks earlier. Almost six years later, with life just having returned to normalcy, Uncle suffered a heart attack that temporarily left him unable to work. Not something anyone working paycheck-to-paycheck can afford. Uncle returned to the workplace part-time ...
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Living with multiple sclerosis
I suffer from multiple sclerosis. I also suffer from a cocktail of other ailments that such abbreviations bring. However you never know what or which. You spend endless hours every week with new symptoms that could fit into other definitions. There is a concoction of medications and an assortment of supplements that promise good health, but is there ever hope? Never. Hope is about knowing that the disease will go away. Hope is for the foolish. Here, there is fighting; there is preparedness; and there is perseverance. I must live as the capacitor that can store every iota of strength for my ...
Read Full PostBeware: Dengue strikes again
Ten months ago dengue fever hit our cities. The outbreak was unprecedented in severity. In the blink of an eye there were hundreds of cases all over Lahore. Doctors and hospitals were caught completely off guard. Many doctors, including myself, were unfamiliar with dengue fever and how to manage it. As the ranks of patients swelled, the capacity of hospitals to care for them was quickly overwhelmed. Though no one will admit to it today, many hospitals in Lahore stopped accepting patients because they simply did not have the capability to take care of any more. Last year, desperate for platelet ...
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