With a dupatta covering her head almost all the time, Saira Khan is often considered by the villagers and small town dwellers whom she provides treatment in one of Medical Aid Foundation’s several medical camps in Sindh, as a representative of the country’s prime Minister. But she is as different from the premier as chalk is from cheese, if you pardon the convenient cliche. Dr. Saira Khan is light years away from politics. The be-all and end-all of her life is to alleviate the sufferings of the poor patients, particularly those who have fallen prey to cancer, the deadliest of all diseases.
Born in Delhi of a Pathan family, Dr. Saira Khan inherited the ‘milk of human kindness’ from her parents, who were both involved in social work. Dr. Khan could never see anyone writhing in pain, she would treat the wounds of stray cats and pariah dogs. Thank goodness, she did not study veterinary medicine for human beings needed her more than animals. She graduated from Lady Harding Medical College in 1969, two years before she got married to a man who has always been very understanding and supportive of her endless social work.
Founder-President of the Medical Aid Foundation. Dr. Saira Khan, with the help of a few dedicated members of the organization, set up an early detection center for cancer at Neelam Colony in 1988, which later shifted to the nearby area around Zamzama Boulevard. A similar center followed a year later, in 1991 the Foundation set up Rahat Kada a hospice for cancer patients in PECHS. The same year, in collaboration with the Pakistan Memon Jamaat, they established an early detection center in Federal B Area, Karachi.
Undeterred by criticisms and allegations, which all social workers have to face, Dr. Khan not only treats cancer patients at Rahat Kada but also visits many who cannot move in her trips to the interior of Sindh. She identifies suspected cases of cancer and arranges to have them transported to Karachi. Where they can be put to be necessary tests, and if the tests prove positive they are treated at Rahat Kada.
Was there a cancer patient in the family (I was reminded of Imran Khan) which motivated her to setup these centers? ‘Thank God’ there was nothing of the sort. All I have to say is that while working as a doctor, I was moved by the plight of people admitted in the cancer and burns wards in our hospitals, which provide free treatment to the poor. I decided to do something for cancer patients, because the incidence of cancer is more than of burn cases,” she replied.
The early detection centers were the first of the kind in the country and so was the hospice. “We are often criticized for investing time, money and efforts on terminal patients admitted to Rahat Kada. People say that our priorities were wrong. I feel that it is an uncharitable attitude, for if we can make the last few days of a dying patient less painful and more comfortable then we have achieved a lot,” Dr. Khan said in a tone which reflects her innate kindness.
Those who criticize the Foundation fail to recognize that the NGO’s major involvement is in the field of detection of cancer in its early stages. “Our one big regret is that our people never go for normal, check-ups, and I am referring to those who can afford to pay its cost. Even when they feel that there is something wrong with them they deceive themselves into believing that there is nothing serious, with the result that the disease that they suffer from goes beyond control said Dr. Saira Khan.
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