News Letters

April 2009 Vol. 20, No. 44

1. PIO Sukkur construction in fast gear
2. Inauguration of Light House
3. Self reliance mega tower project
4. MoU signed with Lions Clubs International
5. Public Affairs Committee Meeting
6. Muzaffarabad hospital construction in full swing
7. International AGFUND prize for Al-Shifa
8. MoU signed with Pak Trust
9. National Academy of Paramedicsforges ahead
10.Al-Shifa Outreach Program
11.Al-Shifa awarded with another Gold medal
12.Participation in International Conferences
13.Young Friend Activities- FJU Patient Survey Report
14.Patient Column                                                                                                             
15.Upcoming events

16.Progress Report

The construction of training wing of Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital Sukkur – Pakistan Institute of Ophthalmology – is making fast progress. This three-storied building is designed to cater for training of Ophthalmic Paramedics and post-graduate training of doctors. Chief Minister Sindh has assured his full cooperation to make this unique project of Sindh into center of excellence

All the modern computerized equipment for assisting people with low vision at our Light house project has now been delivered. For patients with low vision of all ages, latest computerized facilities for reading, writing, computing, electronic mailing, computerized Braille and occupational counseling have been set up. Separate sections have been set up.  Senior Corner for elderly low vision patients has been set up to enable them to carry out activities of daily living. Junior Corner for children with low vision has been designed to facilitate their educational career, while a Rehabilitation corner for people with low vision helps them to live and move independently while within or outside the domestic environment.  Eight personnel including two doctors, five optometrists and one counselor have been inducted for this unique project in the history of Pakistan. All these professionals are currently undergoing training by a team of master trainers from abroad.

The Light House is expected to be inaugurated during the month of May.

Training of Light House Professional Team in progress

With Al-Shifa aiming to attain self-reliance by 2015, the work on the mega project of Al-Shifa to build a commercial tower is making good progress. Under the Master Plan, four multi-storey towers spanning 50 kanal of land will be built. The contract for architectural designing has been awarded to a reputed firm, Engineering Associates. The process for short-listing of contractors is going on. The construction of the first Al-Shifa Tower will be started in few months time. This is expected to complete within 3 years to be followed by construction of other towers.

MoU signed with Lions Clubs International

Lions Clubs International rated as the best international NGO recently by Financial Times, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Al-Shifa Trust also recognized as an apex body in prevention of blindness by World Health Organization. The MoU binds them together for a 287,000 dollars - 3 years project for training of about 500 eye paramedics at National Academy of Paramedics, Al-Shifa Trust eye hospital Rawalpindi.

The MoU was signed by President of Al-Shifa Trust, Lt. Gen.(Retd.) Jahan Dad Khan and Mr. Iqbal Majid, District Governor 305-N2 along with Mrs Nilofar Bakhtiar, Past International Director of Lions Clubs International. President Al-Shifa offered full cooperation from Al-Shifa Trust and that every sitting District Governor of 305-N2 will be honorary member of Board of Governors of Al-Shifa Trust. On this occasion Lions delegation was also taken around the Academy of Paramedics, where PID Mrs Nilofar Bakhtiar announced to sponsor two top graduates of optometry for a short refresher course abroad.

Public Affairs Committee of Al-Shifa Trust, which is chaired by Mr. Mushahid Hussain Syed held its quarterly meeting recently. The main agenda item was the holding of Annual Al-Shifa Day during the month of May.  Prime Minister has very  kindly accepted to be the Chief Guest. The meeting agreed to various fund-raising events as follows and assigned responsibilities to the members.

• Al-Shifa Day 
• Fund-raising function in Lahore
• Fund-raising functions to be sponsored by Foreign Embassies

Muzaffarabad Eye Hospital construction in full swing

Spread over 100,000 square feet, this 150- bed most modern eye hospital catering for the needs of whole of Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas is being developed on the lines of our main Rawalpindi hospital, it will have the capacity to manage about 1,000 patients of all types of eye diseases and to undertake 100 operations daily. It will give employment to over 200 persons and will be hub of outreach eye care services to whole of AJK. The construction is now in full swing and we hope to see its completion before end of the year.

International AGFUND Prize for Al-Shifa

Our readers may recall that recently Al-Shifa Trust has been awarded the coveted international prize by The Arab Gulf Program for United Nations Development Organizations (AGFUND). President Al-Shifa Trust will receive the award during a ceremony soon to be held in Turkey where Turkish President will give away the prize. The AGFUND gives annual award to top few projects around the world after comprehensive evaluation of their performance. The Prize Committee approved three winning projects, including one from Al-Shifa Trust from among 35 projects from 24 countries in 4 continents.

MoU signed with Pak Trust

Pak Trust, registered in UK is a small charity set-up following the aftermath of October Earthquake. Mr. Sajid Ramzan, a senior banker based in London is the chairman of the Trust. Impressed by the contribution of Al-Shifa Trust, he decided to collaborate. Consequently during his recent visit to Pakistan, he signed an MoU with Al-Shifa Trust. Under the agreement, Pak Trust will donate Zakat funds to Al-Shifa Trust which will be used for the purpose of prevention and control of blindness in the region. Due to his vast global experience and rich professional background, he was requested to work for Al-Shifa London Chapter which he gladly accepted.

National Academy of Paramedics has enrolled new batches for refractionist course and nursing assistant training program. The new accommodation block for male students has also been completed and handed over to the Academy. Now the academy has full-fledged residential facility to cater for about 150 male and female students from within and outside Pakistan. For girls’ hostel, we are grateful to Mr. Abdul Sattar from Glasgow (Sher Brothers) who donated funds for the purpose.

President Al-Shifa addressing the new batch of Ophthalmic Paramedics

Girls hostel – supported by Mr. Abdul Sattar from Glasgow

Al-Shifa outreach Program

Al-Shifa outreach program which is regularly being run round the year by all of Al-Shifa Group of hospitals providing at the door eye care to far-flung and inaccessible areas of the country. More than 60,000 patients in were provided with free treatment by our community outreach program during the year 2008, states the hospital’s annual report. During this outreach program, screening of all schools of the area is also conducted where glasses are also provided at the spot. So far Al-Shifa Trust has screened over 1.7 million children in Pakistan.

Another Gold Medal for Al-Shifa

Prof. Tayyab Afghani has been awarded with gold medal by Pakistan Ophthalmic Society at its recent annual meeting in Karachi. This is to acknowledge the efforts of Al-Shifa in prevention and control of blindness.

Participation in International Conferences

Prof. Wajid Ali Khan participated in the recently held international conference MEACO 2009 (Middle East and African Council of Ophthalmology) in Bahrain. Prof. Tayyab Afghani participated in WHO regional meeting in Cairo. Recently Ophthalmological Society of Pakistan, which is the premier professional body for promoting research in control and prevention of blindness, held its meeting at Al-Shifa Trust with Prof Wajid Ali Khan as President of the Society in chair.

Young Friend Activities – Al-Shifa Patient Survey Report by FJ University students

This year saw an unusual number of leading city school students participating in the social welfare activities at Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital Rawalpindi as part of Young Friends of Al-Shifa.
Ms Asma Shaheen the YFA coordinator deserves special appreciation for successfully motivating different elite schools of the city to participate in this noble cause.
In addition, post-grad students from Fatima Jinnah University have been conducting multiple Beneficiary Feedback Surveys to evaluate patient satisfaction with the Al-Shifa eye care service. The results have highlighted both strength and weakness of the system. Some of the salient features are: -

• 70 -80% of all patients are satisfied with the hospital service and environment
• 60-80% of patients visit the hospital mainly because of its free treatment facilities
• Majority of paying patients prefer this hospital due to good quality of eye treatment and also consider the charges to be quite nominal
• 70-90% of patients were satisfied with cleanliness of the ward and behavior of the staff
• Long waiting hours and insufficient patient counseling service were the main weaknesses highlighted by the survey which indicates rapidly growing number of patients.

Patient Column

A Blind Family

Zeenat Bibi- a poor widow from Muzzaffargarh- has to support five children 5-20 years of age. Unfortunately, three of her children, two boys and one girl were blind by birth. For want of money and treatment facilities, they remained undiagnosed and untreated for full four years. One of the quack told her to forget about the treatment and send them to schools for the blind. Someone from ‘beggar mafia’ advised her to ‘rent’ her children to them for earning through begging with some profit to be given to her to sustain her livelihood. She had almost lost hope, when a doctor who visited her village advised her to go to Al-Shifa Trust Rawalpindi. She could not, as she had not the money to travel. Villagers arranged for her travel costs and she finally landed in Al-Shifa department of pediatric ophthalmology. And behold! All the three children were having congenital cataract which is a completely curable cause of blindness but needs specialized equipment and expertise for its management.  Since then two of the three children have been operated in one eye, while the girl has been operated in both of her eyes. The rest of the operations have been scheduled in two weeks time. But the treatment of these children does not stop at surgery only. The unfortunate delay in operation has resulted in ‘rusting of the vision’. After surgery the children will need special rehabilitation measures for further improving the vision. Due to extended hospital stay, the accommodation of this poor blind family was also specially taken care of by the hospital.

Al-Shifa, with your support, has been treating children like these in thousands. Many more are waiting. None of us will like them to go to schools for the blind or adopt begging as a lifetime profession.

Quarterly Progress Report

APPEAL

Al-Shifa Needs Your Support
Al-Shifa is a Not-for-Profit and a non-political organization. It is committed to providing eye care and treatment mainly to the under privileged and poor. Almost 75% of all patients attending Al-Shifa Eye Hospital are treated free. The Trust is able to meet only 30-40% of its expenses from its own sources while the remaining expenses are met through Zakat, donations and support from philanthropists. 
 Your contribution means the gift of sight for someone in need!
           
Kindly note that your Zakat donations go separately to the accounts which are dedicated for treatment of Zakat patients only.
Kindly send your donations or Zakat to following Account Numbers: -

1. In UK
2. Habib Bank AG Zurich 5/7 High Street Southall, Middlesex UB 1 3HA, UK

Account Number = 7-2-7-20311-402-109356 (Pound Sterling Account)
Account Number = 7-2-7-20311-333-109356 (US dollar Account)

1. HSBC Bank AuchinLeck House, Birmingham:  Account Number = 40-1108 (sort code)-41311565 (Account number)
2. In USA
3. National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), 100 Wall Street, 21st Floor New York, NY 10005:  
            Account Number = 52152578
4. Al-Shifa Foundation of North America: 475 Wall Street, Princeton, NJ 08540.                  
        Tel: (609) 279-1400, Email : [email protected] , website: www.afnausa.org
5. In Pakistan, donations can be sent directly to Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital, Jhelum Road, Rawalpindi or to: -
   1. Askari Commercial Bank Limited: Account No.780101017153
   2. Habib Bank Ltd. Account No. 1236-00355425-01
   3. United Bank Ltd. Account No. 011-0228-4
   4. Allied Bank Ltd. Account No. 01-200-3589-7

All donations in Pakistan are exempted from Income Tax vide Regional Commissioner Income Tax, Islamabad, letter number SO-III-26 (9)97-98/5422 dated 23rd May 1998.

For donors outside the country especially in UK and USA provision for online donations through Paypal are also now available