Prof Murad Khan elected IASP’s first Asian President

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Professor Murad Moosa Khan has been elected as the president of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP), the first Asian as well as the first Pakistani in the 60-year history of the Association.

Murad Khan, professor of psychiatry at the Aga Khan University, was selected as head of the Association at the 29th IASP World Congress. 

“To me, this is a challenge as well as an opportunity to work with the global community, IASP professionals and volunteers, to prevent suicidal behaviour in our societies,” he said. 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 800,000 people die due to suicide every year in the world and for 15-29 year olds, it is the second leading cause of death globally. Worse, for every suicide, there are many more people who attempt a suicide. 

Although no official data is available for Pakistan, it is estimated that between 130,000-300,000 people attempt suicide and 13,000-15,000 people take their lives every year. “Most suicides are preventable,” Prof Murad Khan stated. 

“In countries like Pakistan, social factors such as unemployment, lack of access to health, education, housing, transport, justice, and poor law and order create a lot of stress. Severe stress can lead to depression and other mental health illnesses that can lead the individual to think about committing suicide,” he added. 

He aims to work with key stakeholders and advise the government to invest in the mental health sector and come up with a suicide prevention strategy. 

“Pakistan needs a viable national mental health strategy, involving different stakeholders including the government, public and mental health professionals and NGOs,” he reckoned. 

“Training in the early recognition and management of common mental disorders has to be imparted to family doctors, lady health workers and community people. They should be able to discuss symptoms with their patients, help them deal with stigmas attached to mental health and teach them coping skills. Parallel to this it is crucial that affordable and accessible mental health services should be developed as well. People should know where they have to go if they suffer from depression or any mental health problems,” he continued. 

“Around 90 per cent of people who take their lives suffer from some sort of mental health illness at the time of suicide, of which clinical depression is the most common condition,” he concluded.

Modern medicine saving lives in Pakistan

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Shahmeer Khan was born with Tetralogy of Fallot, a rare and complex congenital heart defect in which he had a combination of four heart defects. A congenital heart defect, it is often called the blue baby syndrome because it causes the skin to turn bluish in color as a result of deoxygenated blood in the baby’s system. Congenital heart disease (CHD) is one of the most common developmental defects, occurring in one per cent of the population world-wide.

All babies who have Tetralogy of Fallot need corrective surgery. Without treatment, the child might not grow and develop properly. Untreated cases usually develop severe complications over time, which might result in death or disability by early adulthood. 

Shahmeer is among the growing ranks of children born with CHD, who are surviving, thanks to life-saving pediatric cardiology programmes such as the one at the Aga Khan University (AKU). 

“Life is a gift and due to some very specially trained people and people who take what they do seriously. Thanks to advances in treatment and care at AKUH, by the grace of the almighty, my child is still here and doing very well,” Shahmeer's mother said. 

Shahmeer was celebrating the success of his life-saving open heart surgery at AKUH with sponsors of the University’s Mending Kids’ Hearts campaign. Supporters of the campaign came together over a game of golf and to learn about the impact of their gift. 

The three-year effort to support CHD patients has raised over Rs 247 million from community partners, local corporations, private individuals and support from AKUH’s income allocated for welfare to offer enhanced services to the children in Pakistan. 

Each year, the congenital cardiac programme team at AKUH performs more than 400 paediatric cardiac procedures, including for the many miracle children like Shahmeer whose families could not afford the cost of these complex procedures. 

“Seeing the level of support Aga Khan University Hospital provided to us in our scariest and darkest hours makes me want to make a difference in the lives of other families facing the tough road,” Shahmeer's father said. 

As a leader in paediatric healthcare, AKUH remains passionately dedicated to its core purpose, providing access to healthcare for every child. 

"Increasing access to pediatric cardiac care is not an impossible goal. It is an achievable goal. AKUH remains committed to the well-being of our children," Hans Kedzierski, CEO, AKUH, remarked. 

Since the turn of the millennium, child deaths in Pakistan have been declining thanks to improved public health and poverty reduction efforts. More children need to be saved by 2030, the year that the UN Sustainable Development Goals call for the world to end preventable child deaths. 

“This target will not be met without addressing congenital heart disease, and we need to assist CHD patients who cannot afford this care” Dr Muneer Amanullah, an associate professor of cardiothoracic surgery, added.

Veteran Aligarhian passes away

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Muneer Muhammad Khan, Member, Executive Committee, Aligarh Muslim University Old Boys Association (AMUOBA) who passed away on January 13 was laid to rest at the DHA Graveyard in Karachi the following day. 

His Namaz-e-Janaza was offered at Mubarak Masjid in DHA Phase V Extension after Asr prayers which was attended by a large number of fellow Aligarhians, friends and relatives. 

Meanwhile in a condolence message, Engr Anwar Ali, Vice President, AMUOBA, has expressed his profound grief and sorrow over the death of Muneer Mohammed Khan and prayed that may Allah SWT rest the departed soul in eternal peace and grant fortitude to bereaved family to bear this loss.

Hajj balloting at AIT

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Aligarh Institute of Technology (AIT) has, for the first time, introduced Hajj ballot scheme for its employees and staff, Engr Anwer Ali, Convenor AIT, announced.

According to him, commencing from this year, the AIT will send two persons to hold land to perform the sacred ritual of Hajj at AIT expenses. 

He disclosed that two lucky employees were selected through ballot held at the AIT Auditorium on January 10. 

Engr Anwer Ali said that in order to facilitate the female employees, if they emerged successful in the ballot, the AIT was also going bear the expenses of her spouse/mehram. 

Meanwhile the staff of AIT has welcomed and praised the management for introducing Haj Balloting scheme, which is set to become a regular annual feature. 

They thanked Engr Anwer Ali, Convener AIT, for taking this noble step and expressed the hope that this practice will continue in future as well.

AKU alumni give back through landmark donation

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
 (Pakistan News & Features Services)

Continuing their history of philanthropy to the University, alumni of the Class of 1992 have added to their gift to support physicians from underserved communities across Pakistan.

The Alumni and faculty members gathered to celebrate a landmark gift to the Aga Khan University (AKU) where the MBBS Class of 1992 added another gift of $250,000 to the endowment fund previously established in 2012 to celebrate their 20th graduation anniversary. 

The MBBS Class of 1992 Endowment Fund was established to support the Medical College in perpetuity and in its commitment to making continuing medical education accessible to more physicians who work in underserved communities across Pakistan and who come to AKU for workshops, research symposiums, CME lectures and other research related activities specific to Postgraduate Medical Education (PGME) students training at AKU. 

This latest gift is the most recent example of AKU Alumni’s generosity toward their alma mater. A career in medicine and caring for vulnerable patient populations is itself a way of endowing society, but the alumni clearly value the concept of paying it forward. 

Proceeds from the fund will continue to enable the University to open its doors to many more students from other medical institutions across Pakistan to attend world class conferences and workshops at AKU, to more closely connect them, through the curriculum, with advances in medicine so as to better care for the communities where they come from. 

It will also support education of undergraduate students from some of Pakistan’s most underserved communities requiring financial assistance to access world-class medical education.

“AKU has opened up new worlds for me and my classmates. It has offered me new perspectives, which allowed me to fulfill my dreams. Looking back over many years of practice, we know that medical education is our most valuable possession. It is a privilege every day to practice medicine as it helps to ground us and humble us. It has been a lifetime of learning, growth and service,” Dr Faiz Bohra, who along with Dr Mumtaz Khan signed the agreement on behalf of their class, remarked. 

They acknowledged the efforts of Dr Muneer Abidi and Dr Obeid Ilahi in championing this gift. Graduates of MBBS 1992 from within and outside Pakistan, attended the ceremony, along with the Faculty of Health Sciences staff and learnt first-hand the impact that the MBBS Class of 1992 Endowment has already created. 

“Our education at AKU prepared us well for the challenges of medicine. As students, we focused on didactic and clinical work, the tasks of becoming a doctor. However, we learned many things we were not aware of excellence, compassion, resilience, passion, teamwork, commitment and intellectual curiosity that have made all the difference in our success. We attribute this to the strong mentors at AKU, many of them women setting high standards for patient care and education, yet able to show the joy in their work and the human aspects of medicine” Dr Khan added. 

“Our alumni believe giving back is their responsibility. We sincerely hope that this gesture will inspire other alumni to personally contribute to the advancement of medical education,” Dr Farhat Abbas, Dean of the Medical College, observed. 

AKU alumni are part of a supportive, cohesive community that spans the globe and endures for a lifetime. From lifelong relationships to memories of life on the Stadium Road Campus, there are innumerable reasons alumni choose to support their alma mater. 

Every year, more alumni give back in celebration of reunions, as volunteers, or through annual gifts, and they are not shy about sharing why. AKU is a world-renowned institution that contributes a significant amount to the advancement of society, with a particular focus on serving disadvantaged, underserved, and indigent populations. 

Graduates from AKU work in numerous countries around the world, which allows the University’s reach to be felt on a global scale. AKU alumni play a major role in both the domestic and international economies. By educating the next generation of highly-educated, global citizens, the University is shaping a skilled workforce that will transform and lead an emerging global economy.