Category Archives: Organ Trade and Donation

Joy of giving

By Zubeida Mustafa

PAKISTAN is a bundle of contradictions. We have acquired the latest technologies in medical fields. But we have failed to keep pace with these changes. In fact, socially, we have stagnated if not actually regressed.

Take the case of organ transplantation, which has made great headway in the country thanks to the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation. The institute provides free treatment to nearly 2.6 million patients every year, and performs 350 kidney transplantations from live-related donors. The SIUT also provides free-of-cost, lifelong healthcare to the donors as well as the recipients.

Continue reading Joy of giving

Desperately seeking donors

By Zubeida Mustafa

As the country teeters on the brink, many of the socio-economic and political evils of yesteryears are making a comeback in a big way. One of them is the reprehensible organ trade. Rearing its ugly head at the turn of the century, the sale of kidneys was somewhat suppressed when the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Ordinance was promulgated in 2007. This criminalised the sale of human organs and tissues. Thereafter, the opponents questioned it on several grounds, leading to yet another round of legal struggle.

This ended successfully with Parliament enacting the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act in 2010, amidst a lot of rejoicing. Its credibility was established when some rogue elements in the medical profession and their accomplice vendors were arrested. Thus, good was deemed to have won over evil. One didn’t realise at the time that this was a case of misplaced hope.

Some recent reports (especially two write-ups by Naziha Syed Ali) in Dawn made it clear that the criminals were back in business. This time they were careful and  avoided media publicity. The papers were not flooded, as they were a few years earlier, with images of rows of people in rural areas photographed with their shirts pulled up displaying the incision marks across their torsos – the tell-tale sign of surgery for kidney harvesting.

Matters came to a head when Dr Adibul Hasan Rizvi, director of the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT),   wrote to the Supreme Court and drew its attention to what was happening, mainly in Punjab. In support of his contention, he sent the emails he was receiving from foreign doctors complaining about their patients having travelled to Pakistan  and having been trapped by the organ traders. They had returned home mortally ill.

Under the coordination committee set up by the Supreme Court, the SIUT organised a seminar and workshops last month to formulate recommendations to step up deceased organ donation (DOD). Dr Rizvi believes this  to be necessary to change the pattern of demand and supply of organs and thus the economics that drives the heinous trade. Since human organs are in short supply, they can be sold at fabulous prices to desperately ill, wealthy patients. There is grinding  poverty in some regions of the country, in many cases created by exploitative landlords and brick kiln owners, leading to the compulsion for impoverished people to sell their organs. There are also surgeons whose greed knows no bounds and they have chosen to forget their Hippocratic Oath to serve ailing humanity. These three factors have combined to give rise to   perfect conditions for the commercialisation of organ transplantation in Pakistan.

What is equally appalling is the minimal public awareness about health and illness and the general apathy towards the burden of disease among the people. It is only when a person falls ill that he begins to learn a thing or two from his own experience. With a media that has forgotten its key function of educating the people, it cannot be expected to take too passionately to  health education programmes that have little commercial value. This public ignorance provides the medical profession its huge clientele. The fact is that the burden of disease in Pakistan can be considerably reduced by taking a few preventive measures. Spread more public awareness about healthy living. Provide sanitation and potable water to the people. The healthy environment thus created will cut down the incidence of disease.

That would explain why kidney problems are on the rise in the country. Since the deceased organ programme has not taken off, the demand and supply gap has widened making organ trade  such a lucrative venture.

Will  this exercise of drawing up recommendations produce any fruitful results? It all depends on the will and the capacity of those working for the implementation of the suggested measures.  The transplantation law that was drafted by the late Justice Sabihuddin Ahmad is still believed to be a good law. Changes in the rules could finetune it further. As for putting a halt to the odious  organ trade,  the present law is sufficient for the police to take action and for the courts to act if they want to.  The crime is committed so blatantly, that concerned authorities can crack down on the criminals – even those with powerful connections – if they want to.

The SIUT’s conference and workshops, however, served a useful purpose in another way. They underlined the need to change our social attitudes and culture towards organ donation which Zehra Nigah, our top ranking poet, described as “Tuhfa-e-Hayat-e-Nau” (Gift of a new life) in the poem she recited on the occasion.

There is, undoubtedly, a need to create the infrastructure, train medical professionals in how to handle life-and-death issues, in communicating with the patients and their relatives, and also define, in layman terms, issues like brain death. The recommendations address all these.  Dr Rizvi also brought up the issue of capacity. He pointed out that  the existing number of ICU beds in Pakistan cannot provide sufficient organs – even if consent has been given – to meet the needs of the country. Setting up a centralised registry for donors and patients in need, would facilitate the smooth and efficient working of a transplant programme in Pakistan.  This can be accomplished by the numerous professional medical bodies, working closely together and with the government.

The real challenge is to create public acceptance of deceased organ donation. In this context, the recommendations for the media and for education campaigns to create public awareness and popularise legal organ donation, are most pertinent. Some suggestions for the media, such as integrating the subject of organ donation in TV plays and programmes and including the theme in school textbooks, has the potential to be effective.

The need is to analyse the basic factors that have hampered the awareness of deceased organ donation. Religion is no longer an obstacle. Islamic scholars in Pakistan, and in other Muslim countries, unanimously agree that deceased organ donation  is sanctioned by Shariah.

Superstition, ignorance and the fear of death that have given rise to a negative attitude to deceased organ donation in our society. People need to be told about death and grieving – especially of the need to talk about these phenomena. There is a need to help people see the beauty in the idea of saving lives.

What better strategy can be adopted than what the SIUT itself opted for, when it needed to popularise organ donation by living donors related to each other. Initially, this idea was too radical for people to accept. The battle had to be won if the SIUT’s kidney transplant programme, that was launched in 1985, was to succeed.

After the first few patients and their families had been persuaded to accept this miracle of modern medicial science, it became easy sailing. The patients and their donors became motivators for those who followed. The high rate of recovery of those with transplanted kidneys, along with the care and compassion the patients and their donors received, and the guarantee of life-long free medical cover, proved to be major incentives.

I remember Rasheed, Transplant Patient #1 who came from Azad Kashmir with his brother, who was the donor. They became the agents of change for patients visiting SIUT. There was Rukhsana, the medical student and Transplant  #9, whose sister helped her out. She went on to become a doctor.

Such cases became an inspiration for other patients and their families. There was a lot of interaction among the various patients and donors, but there were also the unfortunate ones who didn’t have a donor. How could their lives be saved?  The answer was:  by  deceased organ donation.

That is what the SIUT’s conference was all about. Pakistan has had five deceased organ donors,  now rightly described as  national heroes by SIUT. The first such donor was Naveed Anwar,  a student who was fatally injured in a  road accident. When he was certified as brain-dead by a team of neurologists, his family – progressive and enlightened – decided to fulfil his oft-expressed wish to be an organ donor if he met such a fate. Dr Razzaq Memon was another and his family also donated his organs in keeping with his will, in spite of some reservations from the biradari.

I mention these two because I have met their families and they have repeatedly endorsed deceased organ donation and their own role in the programme. And so it was that deceased organ donation made a debut in Pakistan. It should be noted that the first three donations were made even before Parliament had passed the law, which certainly helped in promoting the concept.

The inspiration provided by the five heroes, needs to be brought to the fore. The families should lead this campaign. They have experienced the pain of losing a loved one. They have also felt the inner satisfaction and peace that comes from saving a life. Their words will carry weight, just as the SIUT’s presence on a high moral ground in Sindh has kept the organ traders away from this province.

Zubeida Mustafa is a senior journalist. She writes on a variety of subjects but her i

By Zubeida Mustafa

As the country teeters on the brink, many of the socio-economic and political evils of yesteryears are making a comeback in a big way. One of them is the reprehensible organ trade. Rearing its ugly head at the turn of the century, the sale of kidneys was somewhat suppressed when the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Ordinance was promulgated in 2007. This criminalised the sale of human organs and tissues. Thereafter, the opponents questioned it on several grounds, leading to yet another round of legal struggle.

This ended successfully with Parliament enacting the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act in 2010, amidst a lot of rejoicing. Its credibility was established when some rogue elements in the medical profession and their accomplice vendors were arrested. Thus, good was deemed to have won over evil. One didn’t realise at the time that this was a case of misplaced hope.

Some recent reports (especially two write-ups by Naziha Syed Ali) in Dawn made it clear that the criminals were back in business. This time they were careful and  avoided media publicity. The papers were not flooded, as they were a few years earlier, with images of rows of people in rural areas photographed with their shirts pulled up displaying the incision marks across their torsos – the tell-tale sign of surgery for kidney harvesting.

Matters came to a head when Dr Adibul Hasan Rizvi, director of the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT),   wrote to the Supreme Court and drew its attention to what was happening, mainly in Punjab. In support of his contention, he sent the emails he was receiving from foreign doctors complaining about their patients having travelled to Pakistan  and having been trapped by the organ traders. They had returned home mortally ill.

Under the coordination committee set up by the Supreme Court, the SIUT organised a seminar and workshops last month to formulate recommendations to step up deceased organ donation (DOD). Dr Rizvi believes this  to be necessary to change the pattern of demand and supply of organs and thus the economics that drives the heinous trade. Since human organs are in short supply, they can be sold at fabulous prices to desperately ill, wealthy patients. There is grinding  poverty in some regions of the country, in many cases created by exploitative landlords and brick kiln owners, leading to the compulsion for impoverished people to sell their organs. There are also surgeons whose greed knows no bounds and they have chosen to forget their Hippocratic Oath to serve ailing humanity. These three factors have combined to give rise to   perfect conditions for the commercialisation of organ transplantation in Pakistan.

What is equally appalling is the minimal public awareness about health and illness and the general apathy towards the burden of disease among the people. It is only when a person falls ill that he begins to learn a thing or two from his own experience. With a media that has forgotten its key function of educating the people, it cannot be expected to take too passionately to  health education programmes that have little commercial value. This public ignorance provides the medical profession its huge clientele. The fact is that the burden of disease in Pakistan can be considerably reduced by taking a few preventive measures. Spread more public awareness about healthy living. Provide sanitation and potable water to the people. The healthy environment thus created will cut down the incidence of disease.

That would explain why kidney problems are on the rise in the country. Since the deceased organ programme has not taken off, the demand and supply gap has widened making organ trade  such a lucrative venture.

Will  this exercise of drawing up recommendations produce any fruitful results? It all depends on the will and the capacity of those working for the implementation of the suggested measures.  The transplantation law that was drafted by the late Justice Sabihuddin Ahmad is still believed to be a good law. Changes in the rules could finetune it further. As for putting a halt to the odious  organ trade,  the present law is sufficient for the police to take action and for the courts to act if they want to.  The crime is committed so blatantly, that concerned authorities can crack down on the criminals – even those with powerful connections – if they want to.

The SIUT’s conference and workshops, however, served a useful purpose in another way. They underlined the need to change our social attitudes and culture towards organ donation which Zehra Nigah, our top ranking poet, described as “Tuhfa-e-Hayat-e-Nau” (Gift of a new life) in the poem she recited on the occasion.

There is, undoubtedly, a need to create the infrastructure, train medical professionals in how to handle life-and-death issues, in communicating with the patients and their relatives, and also define, in layman terms, issues like brain death. The recommendations address all these.  Dr Rizvi also brought up the issue of capacity. He pointed out that  the existing number of ICU beds in Pakistan cannot provide sufficient organs – even if consent has been given – to meet the needs of the country. Setting up a centralised registry for donors and patients in need, would facilitate the smooth and efficient working of a transplant programme in Pakistan.  This can be accomplished by the numerous professional medical bodies, working closely together and with the government.

The real challenge is to create public acceptance of deceased organ donation. In this context, the recommendations for the media and for education campaigns to create public awareness and popularise legal organ donation, are most pertinent. Some suggestions for the media, such as integrating the subject of organ donation in TV plays and programmes and including the theme in school textbooks, has the potential to be effective.

The need is to analyse the basic factors that have hampered the awareness of deceased organ donation. Religion is no longer an obstacle. Islamic scholars in Pakistan, and in other Muslim countries, unanimously agree that deceased organ donation  is sanctioned by Shariah.

Superstition, ignorance and the fear of death that have given rise to a negative attitude to deceased organ donation in our society. People need to be told about death and grieving – especially of the need to talk about these phenomena. There is a need to help people see the beauty in the idea of saving lives.

What better strategy can be adopted than what the SIUT itself opted for, when it needed to popularise organ donation by living donors related to each other. Initially, this idea was too radical for people to accept. The battle had to be won if the SIUT’s kidney transplant programme, that was launched in 1985, was to succeed.

After the first few patients and their families had been persuaded to accept this miracle of modern medicial science, it became easy sailing. The patients and their donors became motivators for those who followed. The high rate of recovery of those with transplanted kidneys, along with the care and compassion the patients and their donors received, and the guarantee of life-long free medical cover, proved to be major incentives.

I remember Rasheed, Transplant Patient #1 who came from Azad Kashmir with his brother, who was the donor. They became the agents of change for patients visiting SIUT. There was Rukhsana, the medical student and Transplant  #9, whose sister helped her out. She went on to become a doctor.

Such cases became an inspiration for other patients and their families. There was a lot of interaction among the various patients and donors, but there were also the unfortunate ones who didn’t have a donor. How could their lives be saved?  The answer was:  by  deceased organ donation.

That is what the SIUT’s conference was all about. Pakistan has had five deceased organ donors,  now rightly described as  national heroes by SIUT. The first such donor was Naveed Anwar,  a student who was fatally injured in a  road accident. When he was certified as brain-dead by a team of neurologists, his family – progressive and enlightened – decided to fulfil his oft-expressed wish to be an organ donor if he met such a fate. Dr Razzaq Memon was another and his family also donated his organs in keeping with his will, in spite of some reservations from the biradari.

I mention these two because I have met their families and they have repeatedly endorsed deceased organ donation and their own role in the programme. And so it was that deceased organ donation made a debut in Pakistan. It should be noted that the first three donations were made even before Parliament had passed the law, which certainly helped in promoting the concept.

The inspiration provided by the five heroes, needs to be brought to the fore. The families should lead this campaign. They have experienced the pain of losing a loved one. They have also felt the inner satisfaction and peace that comes from saving a life. Their words will carry weight, just as the SIUT’s presence on a high moral ground in Sindh has kept the organ traders away from this province.

Source: Newsline May 2018

Syed Adibul Hasan Rizvi: Book Review

By Zeenat Hisam

THE reading habit needs to start being cultivated in early childhood through stories of fantasy, fairy tales and folk sagas as these ignite the imagination and the curiosity of children. Every culture and every language has its own heritage of such stories. And so does Urdu. However, what was missing was biographies of renowned people written for younger readers in Urdu.

The Oxford University Press is now filling in this gap by bringing out a few series devoted to the genre. Under the series Azeem Pakistani and Tasveeri Kahani Silsila, biographies of notable figures highlighting their contributions to the country have been published. Roshni kay Meenar is the third series focusing on biographies of prominent personalities of Sindh who have made valuable contributions either before Partition or since. The three biographies published earlier under this series presented the lives and works of Mirza Qaleech Baig, Hasan Ali Effendi and Ruth Pfau. Continue reading Syed Adibul Hasan Rizvi: Book Review

Organ donation

index 2

By Zubeida Mustafa

ABDUL Sattar Edhi, the iconic humanitarian, who passed on recently, has been highly eulogised all over Pakistan and beyond. He has also received accolades for something more. He donated his corneas after death which bestowed the gift of sight on two visually impaired people.

Edhi’s donation was of immense importance. Coming from a person held in such admiration by all, his example has inspired many. That is what we need today — heroes who lead by example and not words alone. As it is, Edhi was a man of few words. Continue reading Organ donation

A 40-year journey

By Zubeida Mustafa

siut9THIS week the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) is holding an international symposium to celebrate 40 years of its existence.

The logo designed for the occasion sums up its philosophy: “Every human being has the right to access healthcare irrespective of caste, colour or religious belief, free with dignity.” At SIUT you actually see this happening.

For long, it was the dream of its founder, Dr Adibul Hasan Rizvi, to create a nucleus that would evolve into an equitable and inclusive healthcare system that would be accessible to all. Continue reading A 40-year journey

Give the gift of life

By Zubeida Mustafa

HAS the illicit organ trade that gave Pakistan such a bad name in the world of medicine made a comeback? We do know that for about a year after the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act was adopted in 2010 there was a lull and we were celebrating the end of this crime against humanity in our country. But one cannot be sure about that now.

Today reports trickle in that the clandestine sale of human organs is thriving. The scale of the operation is not known but the exploitation of the poor remains unabated.

With such a reputation, it was not really surprising when five days after the bombing of the All Saints Church in Peshawar last month, a website, Agenzia Fides, that has been described as the news agency of the Vatican, carried a shocking report linking the incident with the problem of organ trafficking. Continue reading Give the gift of life

Fabricating history

By Zubeida Mustafa

THE SIUT’s Centre for Biomedical Ethics and Culture (CBEC) holds interesting forums periodically where renowned scholars are invited to address the members. Since ethics is a wide-ranging subject the thought-provoking speeches on a variety of subjects delivered there provide the audience some issues to chew upon.

In July, Dr Arifa Syeda Zahra, who teaches history in a Lahore college, was a guest of the CBEC and the point she drove home very forcefully and convincingly was that those who destroy history do it with the purpose of erasing the collective memory of a people. The idea behind this act of vandalism is to pre-empt change, which Dr Arifa Zahra describes as the most difficult process in individuals and societies. Continue reading Fabricating history

Kudos to SIUT, for ‘making the impossible possible’

By Anil Datta

Karachi

Glowing and touching tributes were heaped on the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) Director, Dr Adeebul Hassan Rizvi, and international award winning journalist Zubeida Mustafa, the former for having rendered yeoman’s service to the sick, the needy and the underprivileged across the length and breadth of the country, and the latter for having brought these achievements on record through her book, “The SIUT story: making the ‘impossible’ possible”.

The occasion was the launch of Mustafa’s above-noted book at the Mohatta Palace Friday evening.

6-15-2013_183766_l_akbGhazi Salahuddin, noted journalist and columnist, recalled the time when Dr Adeebul Hassan Rizvi was a student leader and paid him tribute for not having let his idealism wane and for remaining true to his ideals for the betterment of society.

“There’s lots of talk in our society about human dignity but in actual practice, there is none. We are a terribly class-riddled society, utterly apathetic to the travails and needs of our fellowmen. Dr Rizvi’s devotion to human dignity is so very evident in his institution. The SIUT’s stress on human dignity is not based on charity. Rather it is based on the natural rights of all human beings”, said Ghazi Salahuddin.

Having been her colleague for a long time, he praised Zubeida Mustafa and said that Zubeida had introduced a totally new research-oriented approach to journalism, something that hitherto had not been there. This, he said, made all the information so very profound and authentic.

Former Commissioner, Karachi Divisions, Shafiqur Rehman Piracha, in his very touching and emotional tribute to Dr Rizvi, talked about the “divine madness” of Dr Rizvi that had made the inception of an institution as altruistic as the SIUT possible where human beings were accorded their natural right to things that could make life a pleasurable experience for them. He said that everyone was treated with dignity at the SIUT without having to pay for it.

In a tribute to Rizvi’s altruistic simplicity, Piracha narrated how there was a concerted effort by the country’s most powerful segment of the bureaucracy to induce Rizvi to accept the post of federal health minister and what a hard time Rizvi had warding them off till they gave it up. He narrated how even these days, Rizvi travelled by train once a fortnight to Sukkur and its environs along with his medical team to perform surgeries and transplants absolutely free of cost.

He lauded Mrs Mustafa for having authored such a book on a subject as vital as healthcare and set the record straight for posterity.

Dr Adeeb Rizvi, acknowledging the accolades, and in his tribute to Zubeida Mustafa, recalled his first encounter with her and narrated how she was constantly grilling him with the questions: “How will you render such advanced medical care for free?” “How will you carry out dialysis for free?” and said that he was always hard put for a ready answer. “Ultimately, we made up and Zubeida joined us in our tissue transplantation campaign”, he said.

Zubeida Mustafa, acknowledging all the tributes, thanked the Support Trust (one of the sponsors of the book launch) for their cooperation in her painstaking venture.

“I wanted everyone to know that there are as many good people in our society and good works being done and that our society is not just bloodshed and killing”, she said.

The SIUT, she said, was not a charity organization but one where all humans got their rights with dignity. “That’s what I wanted to convey”, she said. She went on to state that all citizens had a right to education and healthcare and even though today’s liberal economics had turned things upside down, the SIUT still abided by its noble philosophy.

Kishwar Zehra, a thriving businessperson and a committed social worker who devotes of her time for voluntary work in the institute, lauded the most selfless service to society by Dr Rizvi and praised Zubeida Mustafa’s journalistic acumen in putting the story together for posterity.

Nusrat Ali Khan and Hassan Jameel, trustees of the Support Trust, outlined the aims and objectives of the Trust which, in a nutshell, could be summed up as publicizing all the work being done on a voluntary basis in various walks of life in the country and augmenting the mission of altruistic organizations. Nusrat Ali Khan proposed that copies of Mustafa’s book be sent to all diplomatic missions in the country and to all Pakistani diplomatic missions overseas to disseminate knowledge about the reservoir of selfless and noble individuals in our society.

Noted TV journalist compered the function and lauded Zubeida’s press crusade against the deficiencies in our healthcare and social systems.

Source: The News

The SIUT Story — Making the ‘Impossible’ Possible launched

By Shazia Hasan

guest-contributorKARACHI, June 14: “I was only following my emotions but she had the backing of research and proper data before asking me to explain how exactly I intended to offer free treatment to my patients. I was at a loss,” recalled Dr Adibul Hasan Rizvi at the launch of The SIUT Story — Making the ‘Impossible’ Possible while referring to its author Zubeida Mustafa at the Mohatta Palace Museum here on Friday.

“When we started our free dialysis work, she was back on the request of her editor at Dawn newspaper, Ahmad Ali Khan sahib, firing more questions that I didn’t have the answers to,” he shared.

“Our first kidney transplant was done quietly. We kept it from the media and when she found out, she was mad at us for being so secretive,” he laughed, adding that then it was Mrs Mustafa herself who also helped guide them on ethical things and how to tackle the issue of tissue transplantation, etc.

“Thank you for writing this book, which immortalises our philosophy that every human being has the right to healthcare and dignity,” Dr Rizvi said.

Senior journalist Ghazi Salahuddin said that he knows Dr Rizvi from the time when he was a young student at DJ Science College actively involved in students’ union. “He still believes in the dreams he had back then,” he said.

Praising the author of the book, he said that Mrs Mustafa came to Dawn from an academic background. “Not just this book but all her well thought out writings over the years are the product of extensive research and data collection,” he said.

“It is great that she could do this for SIUT now. The book is like a revolution in a society where there is no value of life leave alone the concept of human dignity,” he added.

Former Karachi commissioner Shafiq Paracha called Dr Rizvi’s passion to help people gain health regardless of their being rich or poor or belonging to any religion or belief “Divine Madness”.

He narrated an incident from former President Pervez Musharraf’s time when Dr Rizvi’s name came up for health minister and the doctor was determined to make the government officials drop the idea. “He took us on a round of the hospital trying to explain how much he was needed there only until one of us understood that it wouldn’t be wise to spoil one kind of good to start another,” said Mr Paracha.

“Dr Rizvi is that island of hope which balances our society,” he added.

About the author, he said that he was grateful to her for introducing us to the people who make the “impossible possible”.

Finally, Mrs Mustafa said that in Karachi where losing lives had become a common occurrence there was the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation that is dedicated to saving lives. “It gives us hope. It had to be celebrated,” she commented.

She said, “I am glad that I wrote this book now after doing so much research on this place. The research I did over the years has helped settle all my doubts about its running. It is not just any charity hospital. It is a model hospital and the philosophy behind it can help build other such institutions.

“Being part of the public sector, there is also no element of commercialism attached to it. The treatment offered at the SIUT boasts foreign standards. The technology brought here from the West is also adjusted to local needs. It is laudable that they started from eight beds and have become what they are today through need-based extensions.

“The experts at the SIUT were just normal people who received proper training before putting it to good use. Foreign experts come here as well to train the doctors here. They also treat the patients at the hospital. It is compassion of the people working here that has raised the value of humanity at SIUT. But this team works so well because it has a great leader,” she said gesturing towards Dr Rizvi.

Meanwhile, it was suggested that an Urdu edition of the book also be brought out so that it can reach a bigger readership. Mrs Mustafa said that she would consider the suggestion.

Source: Dawn

Invisibility of mothers

By Zubeida Mustafa

AS a new government enters the corridors of power in Sindh it will find itself empowered with an innovative and sensible document that lays down the gender guidelines for official policies in the province. It was a smart move on the part of the Sindh Women Development Department to launch its Provincial Policy for Women Empowerment two days before the elections.

The event was timely because such moves pertaining to women’s rights require a lot of support and backing from official quarters in Pakistan. This support was fully available. It could not have been otherwise considering that the women and human rights’ portfolio in the interim government was held by an inveterate champion of woman’s rights, Anis Haroon, whose role in the women’s movement has been phenomenal. Continue reading Invisibility of mothers