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Women's Health Problems in Pakistan |
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.I have introduced the concept of breast self examination in this community and there is increasing awareness about the importance of early detection and management of breast lumps. Towards this end, I have diagnosed five cases of carcinoma of breast during this year. I referred a real sister with one of these cases for prophylactic mammography which turned out to be another case of carcinoma at so small a size it could not be palpated. We always refer the suspected or high-risk patients to relevant government centres for further check ups and mammography or scinti-mammography. My greatest wish for the program is to provide organised training of female health workers, female health visitors, nurses, and other women health care providers who are licensed (e.g., homeopathic female doctors, traditional or eastern medicine health providers) to work, but lack adequate training and skills. It has always been my dream to initiate and establish an institution that could provide basic and recent training to health professionals, especially paramedics. I have reduced my expenses, forgone all leisure pastimes and have not traveled overseas for the last eight years. I now have most of the required training materials. I have gradually purchased a computer, printer, scanner, and digital web camera entirely from my personal income. Towards this end, I have devised short courses for training and ways of examining candidates who complete training. |
What further help is needed? We are looking for collaboration with individuals and organizations that could be of help. We are trying our best to address women's health problems and some of its contributing factors. We intend to train a lot of female school teachers and married women in personal hygiene, safe motherhood, hazards of STDS and their prevention, and emergency family planning .The most important of all is the training of traditional birth attendants as most women here still prefer them. Unfortunately, we are unable to do much to address the most aggravating factors, unemployment and poverty. We intend to help transform women's lives with all possible support including provision of small items of help in the form of paying off their bills for repairing of sewing machines, small accessories and motors for sewing machines and small financial aid to start work. We also want to arrange healthy competition among female artisans to improve the level of their skills and to help them find suitable work. Dr Manzoor Ahmed Butt, General Medical Practitioner, Researcher& Trainer, Maqbool Clinic, Research & Training Centre, Dhoke Kala Khan, Shamsabad, Rawalpindi-46300, Pakistan. 1 PSBH is a registered Programme of Dreyfus Health Foundation, New York, USA. To know more, visit: http://www.dhfglobal.org Editor's note: Dr Manzoor Butt was awarded "Global Doctor of the Month' for August 2003, by Global Family Doctor - Wonca Online |
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