LACK of public awareness regarding proper medical healthcare may perhaps be the biggest killer in many Third World countries including Pakistan and India at least as far as terminal diseases like cancer are concerned according to Dr. Saira S. Khan, president of the Karachi-based Medical Aid Foundation.
Dr. Khan who is on a brief visit to Dubai told Gulf News yesterday that “It is possible to deliver proper medical and health care even in cancer cases provided it is detected soon enough and the malignancy has not progressed beyond the first stages”.
She defined cancer as one of the most dreaded diseases of the 20th century and said it completely ravishes the body and torments the mind besides causing an excruciating pain to the patient and acute trauma to other family members or friends.
However, she is optimistic that “early detection will result in an early cure which is what the Foundation aims at primarily”.
Dr. Khan said that the Medical Aid Foundation is committed to the cause of spreading awareness, especially amongst women, regarding this killer disease.
She also spelt out the main objectives of the Foundation which is to provide 65 Detection Centers in Karachi itself to begin with and also to build a terminal home which would provide tree medical and nursing care for the cancer patients.
Dr. Khan, who is herself a trained pathologist, said there are a minimum of seven clinical symptoms which if people are aware about, can lead to an early detection of cancer. These include ad nagging cough or hoarseness, indigestion or difficulty in swallowing, change in the bowel or bladder habits, recurrent mouth ulcers or a body sore that does not heal, unusual bleeding or discharge, and obvious change in a wart or mole and a thickening lump in the brast or elsewhere.
She also pointed out that certain social trails and habits common to the subcontinent can also lead to cancer growth like chewing tobacco or betel-leaf, consumption of shredded betel net, smoking cigarettes or the hook and other such essentially harmful products.
To add to this problem. She added, the third world is often used as a dumping ground for toxic wastes and affluent which have heavily polluted the environment.
Many government hospitals both in Pakistan and India are not only overcrowded beyond capacity but often also lack the ward facilities and laboratory equipment required to treat such cases although they may have the necessary expertise to do so.
As such. Dr. Khan, who will be in the emirate till Tuesday, pointed out that the Foundation, will appreciate any assistance which may be available from any quarter to ensure that the cancer detection centers function effectively.
Two such centers which have already been established within the last nine months, she stressed are basically being operated on a “no profit no loss basis” by a dedicated group of doctors and social workers.
One reason why the Foundation has focused on the problem of cancer is because according to Dr. Khan “It is all the harder to cope with this dreaded disease in a Third World environment where ignorance and poverty add to the limitations of the clinical treatment itself”.
The Foundation has therefore conducted as many as 30 mass-awareness medical camps last year and intends to conduct more this year in its bid to combat the problem.
The world Health Organization (WHO) has also promised to offer all provide help to the Foundation having been impressed by its initial efforts in this field of providing clinical help to cancer patients and promoting public awareness about medical healthcare.
Dr. Khan is also aware herself about the fact that the Foundation has just made a beginning and still has a long way to go. But what to her is most important is that “Once people understand and appreciate our approach and ideal, our efforts will not go in vain and we should be able to tackle at least some problems of cancer and other terminally ill patients effectively”. |
