Todays Traitors , Tomorrow Heroes - YDA

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable. ( JFK)

YDA : this three letter word has become one of the most condemned word among masses today. People talk endlessly about the indifference of these brutal YOUNG DOCTORS who for  their own petty goals left suffering mankind to die in misery and finally they met their much deserved fate . The recent crackdown of police on these terrorists have solved this issue once and for all and they have been rightfully tortured , arrested and put to comatose states after torture.Now the civil societies , good governance and law enforcement agencies have uprooted this EVIL from the bud so there will be best health care at door steps of everyone and tomorrow a new day when things will be perfect . 

But thats not my story , my story dates back a few years ago.

A young graduate of the prestigious institute , full of passion and devotion , had a strength to change the system and courage to undo the wrong. Having stamina of 48 hours straight floor emergency and post emergency shift in a tertiary care hospital and one fine day realized my  zeal has ended and there is a bitter thing called reality which is not as pleasant as my dreams are , did not realize I was not paid for my job .I had no future , no fortune , no respect and beyond that no plan . I realized how much looser I was and failure indeed. Then everyone started talking about new ideas how we can go out get foreign qualifications , save ourselves and include ourselves among the RESPECTABLE part of society . I was among the coward one , struggled for 5 years after graduation still unpaid and unworthy , left my country because these years taught me something .. If you want to change the system , the system will change you one day . I left to never look back . 

But there were few visionary , who still had faith , who foresee the fact that 2200 doctors leave for middle east alone in a year will leave the system crippled for generations to come. Like energy crisis , we did read for years that we might need new dams or else we would have crisis and no one botherd because at that time there was  enough energy for everyone but now we have been put in the darkness of despair. These visionaries realized we cannot save this profession unless we save the executing agencies : The Doctors .. That was the birth of YDA .Then strikes became routine and promises were made and broken , weeks became months and months became years. At one side tyrants  with their lies and weapon of treachery and fear and on other side the doctors . And it is public who took the front blow, many patients were suffered , misery prevailed . Govt. refused to listen to the demands of the cream of Nation and projected them as terrorist responsible for everything from lack of facilities in hospital to poisoned medications normally dispensed in hospitals . The Govt. was happy because this situation was giving them sympathy vote . Because now for the first time they could  label someone else for the misery of people so best policy was never to appoint a dedicated Health Minister and never listen to them rather linger on and fuel the dispute so they can have benefits from the row. Patients suffered a lot , although Emergency dept. was never closed and so did the Indoor but OPD strike was projected so much that Govt. succeeded in winning the public and media support on this issue and then Punjab Govt. did what tyrants and brutes have been doing for centuries , attacked the weaker ones in the dark inside the safety of four walls.

                    I congratulate Punjab Govt. and masses for this phenomenon success and now this so called cream of 

Nation has learnt a lesson . 

But there is a problem with these beautiful minds , they have never learnt to quit . They did not quit when they were in school , they never quit when they worked hard beyond human endurance , they did not quit when they had to work and still working without any monetary gains. They are not fighting for themselves , they are not using patients as a collateral damage , they are not raising slogans for some hidden agenda or political party . They are doing for the soul of profession which will lead to a system which can serve the suffering mankind in a better way . A system where young doctors don't leave the country due to despair but serve the motherland with the much expected devotion . A system where Govt. never gives license to poisoned medications , system where every patient has an access to the trained physician equipped with experience and dignity. A system where health and life is far most important object of society where life is precious and beautiful . 

LONG LIVE YDA    -- Dedicated to my Friend Dr Naeem Ameen who is fighting with his life after police torture

The PIC Incident: Logical Conclusion

    We are Oft to blame in this , tis too much proved that with devotion ,s visage and pious action we do sugar o'er The Devil himself   ( Shakespeare )

Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country I  dare to say , someone said no everything is wrong but I thought Nay . If everything is wrong then it’s a paradox and then things are right in other direction as black and white are not colors but shades but gray is a color

This month , month of January , the first month of 2012 is unlike other months because three incidents made it different . Different in a way that we out of our busy lives , discussed some trivial matter on a coffee table or social media network status and gave away 30 second of our precious time .

    

Unfortunate death of the Child Prodigy  , Stampede resulting death of three girls in a concert and death of  dozens ( 100 )  patients admitted in hospital due to some medicines marketed as life saving drugs .  These three misfortunate events has something in common : One has to die in my home land to be a hero or someone to be remembered , a tradition of martyrdom is now required to jog our minds for few second . But this is not the story my story starts events before that .

          

While working as a Physician in a tertiary care hospital emergency for two years , in a provincial capital , it was an evident fact that we all knew . Medicines given to the patients were not only sub standard but even most of the time not even medicine and how casually we all acknowledge the fact that vials probably has water in them .  The sad demise of 100 people after using aspirin and some basic non toxic medicines shocked me but later left many questions . What I was thinking as a doctor , when I was giving these medicines to the patients in Govt free dispensary , I asked myself how naïve I would be if I was not foreseeing some incident even bigger than this . Who is responsible ,  the Pharmaceutical Company selling poison , our good governance of Punjab claiming free treatment or hospital administration buying and passing these tenders . Answer was always there and it is even more crystal clear now . there are many people responsible for this , some more than others but truth be told , if you are looking for a guilty , you need to look into a mirror . 

It is me a Pakistani who think a bad thing can happen to other guy and forget that for someone else I am the other guy . I tell my children to lie and then expect they will not cheat. I close my eyes at every brutality of  myself and others and then expect it will not hunt down my own family . I spread the word and ideology of hate and then believe it will never ruin my own life . I support every injustice and show indifference to every evil  and yet claim someone else for havoc .

          I asked a friend now what will happen ? May be a crack down and shut down of few companies, fist full of rupees to the families of deceased by our honorable CM , some committee  headed by some tyrant to look into the matter , to make an example may be few will be thrown to the jail and then what will happen , same day same night , I , the Pakistani will become indifferent to everything which is going wrong in this country from religious oppression to moral corruption . I will wait silently for my same , very same fate hiding the very next turn and become part of that martyrdom which defines my existing society .

Honesty , Love , Fairness, justice, and freedom are more than words, they are perspectives. So if you've seen nothing, if the crimes of  yourself and myself remain unknown to everyone then our time has come .

Pakistan Zindabaad  

Who will Guard the Guardian : A tribute to Late Dr Asma Nazeer

I Have Fought A Good Fight , I have Run My           Race, I Remained Faithful ( 2 Timothy 4:7) 

Still feels like yesterday, when our Prof walked in the male ward and introduced a new faculty member. All I remember, I saw a smiling face with shining eyes and a personality so strong that all the residents were quite in awe. When they left I asked fellow resident “Who is the new faculty member? “  “That’s Dr Asma Nazeer “ That was my first introduction to the person who shaped my next two years in a way that I came to understand the meaning of professionalism and excellence.

                  

 Then days passed, morning rounds became more than a routine. I actually started enjoying my work because now I had a person in my life whom I called my Mentor. It’s not her clinical acumen that made her an extraordinary person, it was her charisma to touch lives and change them. She made me believe in myself and urged me to do more. I learnt from her that I should expect more from myself. She taught me well that much is not enough I am capable of doing more.

                                       I always thought we have two kind of people in our life, good people and not so good people but then I found a third kind, extraordinary people. They praise you for your small achievements just to make it possible that you achieve something big and take the responsibilities of your own shortcomings so that you may not lose heart. Her intelligent remarks at the rounds or her cheerful child like joy on her residents interest in the subject and the satisfaction after pulling the patients out of their miserable plight, are things legends are made of.

                        

                                   Leaving Ganga Ram was very difficult for me because among other reasons it was fear of loosing her in my life as my guiding light but I was full of hope and joy because I might make her feel proud of me. Last day she called me in office and gave me a small gift as a remembrance token and I promised her to come up to not only her but also my own expectations. I left with heavy heart but full of hope.  How misfortunate I was, I did not know it was last time I was seeing her.

                      

                                   Dengue struck Lahore and gave our petty leaders a perfect stage to play their political saga out of our misery. It was doctors that stood by in this hour of need and presented everything they have but giving one own life was a price too high. Month was October when we took sigh of relief because things started becoming better but we were naive to notice the silent cold steps of death toward our loved one. News of her critical situation made me numb and I was struck with grief and prayed for a miracle .....but there is something about prayers, prayers are always answered but sometimes answer is No. She left us all to be with her creator in eternal peace. She fought a good fight and left a good legacy but left many questions? Who will guard the guardian?  Today we all share the sorrow of the family and the loved ones. May God give them their peace and patience to bear this loss.Let us all keep her alive in our lives by doing what she expected from us and becoming a living example of her deeds . Let us all live our lives by Dr Asma Nazeer ‘s way.

When the body sinks into death, the essence of man is revealed.

Man is a knot, a web, a mesh into which relationships are tied. 
Only those relationships matter…………"

From Epidemic to Endemic

                 We have learnt from the history that we do not learn from the history and those who do not learn from the history are doomed to repeat it.
                One of my friend once told me that and how correctly this statement fits to the present situation.Dengue although over rated by our pseudo intellectual media,has added to our current misery.No electricity , soaring fuel prices and above all this bone break disease. I still remember working extra shifts last two years and hoping that someone would come up with the simple thing called Prevention .
                Its not the death rate I am worried because , dengue is still far less lethal than other viral diseases like HCV/HBV endemic in our population but its our sense of responsibility which is real concern. They say , prevention is better than cure but I think our health department is so naive to understand this and this easily preventable disease has become a nightmare for our provincial capital while we are still listening to the chants of good governance by our masters.

              Its not strange if Punjab Govt , plays a blame game and holds Federal Govt responsible for this like electricity short fall but the real concern is what did we do to control this havoc.One outbreak is disease , two is misery but five outbreaks mean its just not poor public health policy its bigger than that . None of us is ready to take responsibility , every year in summer we know by courtesy of media that how this disease spreads and yet we the good citizens of Lahore hardly do anything required. The fresh water source is our waste which we add to the environment. Then we are not ready to face it as well . We are proud Nation consisting 170million people and we run short of blood donation pools. We are successful business personals but we hide platelet kits to have extra profit. We actually wait for the epidemic to earn extra profit.
   
                      Although our Govt has failed in many spheres and Media has been acting juvenile but we the citizens of this land are equally responsible for this epidemic and if we do not take responsibility then the time is near when this epidemic will be endemic and all we have is misery and despair. Its time to stand up and prove ourselves and learn from the history and better prepare ourselves for bigger things to come than a preventable viral disease.

Dedicated to all the Medical Personals walking extra mile to make a difference . I am proud of you all
Pakistan Zindabaad.