Umair Khan Lodhi founded CUBE, which is a youth organisation that focuses on issues confronting our young people. The organisation comprises members from different universities including CBM, Bahria and Usman Institute of Technology. Recently, they organised a first-aid awareness seminar at Usman Institute of Technology (UIT), to help people get accustomed to the idea of helping others in case of medical emergencies.

Students from engineering, medical and even business studies as well as doctors from different universities also came to support the efforts of CUBE in trying to create awareness about first-aid. The main speaker of the seminar was Dr. Fehmida Khatoon, an Assistant Professor at Dow Medical University. She talked about the precautions that should be taken at the time of a minor cut or burn to a serious situation of dealing with a patient having heart attack. She gave a brief account of first-aid services which should be given at different situations including mental trauma, fracture, severe or ordinary wounds, burning, poison and even snake bites et cetera.

Providing first-aid is taught in schools abroad, but in Pakistan even the grown-ups are clueless when confronted with a medical emergency requiring first aid. Due to lack of this knowledge, we often end up creating more trouble for the patients instead of easing up things for them.

In the end, certificates were distributed by CUBE.

These young people are trying to bring a change in society by mobilising the youth and for this, they should be highly encouraged.

- Iqra Sarfaraz

Campaigning against corruption

Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore, hosted a seminar recently, which focused on the attempts made by the leading scientists of the country to stop persecution of those scientists, doctors or engineers that excel in fields of research, and aim to bring some positive changes in the country. The chief guest was Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan.

Prof. Dr. Javed Akram, the Principal of AIMC, gave a brief speech and invited Dr. A.Q. Khan to share his views with the students. Dr. A.Q. Khan disclosed that he had been working for a higher status for all the scientists of Pakistan since the time of General Zia-ul-Haq. He personally requested General Zia to raise their salary grade to 22. He spoke about corruption in our healthcare system and the role of pharmaceutical companies that send doctors on foreign tours and provide them various luxuries. In return, these doctors prescribe expensive drugs of these companies to poor patients. It is a vicious circle.

He cited an essay that he wrote on thalassemia mentioning a new herbal drug developed by a Pakistani cardiologist, Dr. Abdul Rashid Seyal. Dr. Seyal had the drug tested by Agha Khan Laboratories, but did not receive a reply from any of our local authorities to make it go public. After Dr. A.Q. Khan’s essay, he now has tons of inquiries and mails about the drug.

In the end, Dr. Javed Akram thanked Dr. A.Q. Khan for gracing the occasion and named the new state of the art PCR laboratory after him as A.Q. Khan Laboratory. We wouldn’t call Dr. A.Q. Khan an unsung hero of our nation, as it’s the love and respect people have for him that matters the most … profound, unquestionable respect.

- By Maham Mudassir