Pakistan is a signatory to the UN Resolution on Universal Healthcare of 2012. Providing universal healthcare (UHC) is a target in the Sustainable Development Goals adopted at the UN General Assembly in September 2015. Healthcare access to all citizens is constitutionally enshrined, yet many are deprived of the basic right to basic health care services. […]
Tabinda – Marital rape and gunshot victim
Tabinda’s story is a shocking tale of abuse, survival and a woman’s unwavering will to live. She survived a gruesome attack. She was 28 years old, married off at 18 to a first cousin. He had been abusive throughout. She bore four kids despite constant abuse and stayed for ten long years. She thought that […]
Homeless woman with a broken wrist
The phenomenon of homelessness is one of the worst forms of urban poverty and social vulnerability. No one wants to be homeless by choice. Women constitute one of the groups worst affected by homelessness. While the phenomenon of homelessness violates the most basic of human rights for all populations, women without a home and living […]
A 37 year old with heart disease
The young male heart is under attack. Nadeem, a 37 year old heart aged faster than his real age. He had a very advanced heart disease that is typically founded in elderly patients. He was a heavy smoker, had worked hard on several jobs to support a family of 7, and was the sole bread […]
The boy from Toba Tek Singh
Javed is a 29 year old bread-earner from a small village near Toba Tek Singh. He got seriously injured in a road accident. The whole family got disturbed as all of them were entirely dependent on him. The victim as well as the family had to face untold hardships and miseries. The primary hardship was […]
Poverty and cardiac diseases
Mitral valve replacement is a cardiac surgical procedure to either repair or replace the mitral valve in the heart. In the case of Tariq doctors opted for mitral valve replacement as repair of the mitral valve could not have been performed successfully in his case. Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) including heart disease are on the rise […]
Leg Amputation: a triple threat
As a result of a motorcycle accident at the age of 33, Zeeshan’s leg had to be amputated below the knee. He was treated for a month and a half but the injury was further complicated and the fear of gangrene loomed. The lower part of the leg was totally destroyed. The infection was so […]
Poverty and tuberculosis reinforce each other
A 30 year-old male patient was admitted to Lady Reading hospital in Peshawar with 2 months history of high fever, cough and shortness of breath and chest pain. He shared of anxieties of being sick for so long. Imtiaz spoke of ten or more episodes of fever and cough over more than two months, each […]
An Afghan girl’s dilemma
Years of war have depleted Afghanistan of resources and eroded their ability to care for the sick. The health system is plagued and the standards are low. Thousands of Afghans travel to Pakistan in search of medical treatment. Poor and limited healthcare infrastructure is causing the numbers to grow. ‘My daughter would have died if […]
Ali Hasan, a victim of hit-and-run accident
Eight year-old Ali Hassan was a victim of a hit-and-run accident. Coming from a dysfunctional family, he also suffered parental neglect following abandonment by his father, and family violence. His mother had sent him, along with his older sister, to work as domestic workers. His tasks included dish-washing and cleaning of the car. Their wages […]
