Al-Fajar Foundation: Increase in thalassaemia patients needs attention

The only hospital of its kind in Malakand requires assistance from other organisations to help those who are in need.

SWAT: Tears trickle down Hilal’s cheeks as he talks about his future, “I will become an army officer and for that I will fight my disease,” Hilal Khan, 11, told The Express Tribune.

Hilal, a student of 5th grade, was lying on the transfusion bed at Al-Fajar Foundation Swat where fresh blood was being replaced in his tiny veins to keep him alive, but the sparkle in his eyes was not lost.

“I love my education and Islamiat is my favourite subject, cricket is my favourite game and watching television is my hobby but I hate the pain in my legs,” he said.

“Two things irritate me a lot, vomiting and my blood transfusion that I have to get every month,” he said.

Established in 2004, under the administration of the Swat Public School and College, Al-Fajar Foundation is the only place for about 7,000 thalassaemia patients from Malakand Division to get treatment. The hospital provides free blood transfusions.

Noor Jahan, mother of two-year-old Anab, a patient of thalassaemia, told The Express Tribune, “Since we heard about Al-Fajar Foundation we have been coming here regularly, before this we had to go to government hospitals for a blood transfusion and had to arrange blood and everything ourselves.”

Regarding the attitude of the staff Jahan said, “The staff here is very caring and co-operative. They call us to remind us about the blood transfusion as the date comes closer.”

Jahan Sardara, from the Alla Abad area in the Charbagh Tehsil, was accompanying her grandson to the hospital, told The Express Tribune, “This is the first time we came here, everything is very strange to us, as the environment is very neat and clean, the staff is so helpful because in the government hospitals everything was dirty and we were treated badly.”

“He is in the first grade but is not regular with going to school because of continuous fever and pain in his legs. He has a chest problem too,” Sardara said.

Ahmad Sultan and Habiba’s mother sitting next to her children who were receiving a blood transfusion said, “Both my children have thalassaemia. My daughter loves studying and my son loves games but neither of them can fulfill their desires as they remain ill and cannot go out like other children.” The staff of the hospital is well-trained and ready to help those in need. “Helping these people gives me a peace of mind,” remarked Rawasia, a nurse, working in the foundation.

Chairman of the foundation, Syed Munawar Shah, told The Express Tribune, “I was inspired by the Fatimid Foundation. I visited it with my friend and it was there that I learnt about thalasseamia and it was shocking for me to learn that people in far flung areas did not have access to treatment. I financed a study in which I found out that the number of patients in Malakand was one of the highest.”

The objectives behind the foundation, he said, were to ‘provide relief-share grief, serving humanity and spreading awareness regarding thalassaemia’.

“I am content with all that the Al-Fajar Foundation is achieving in the area but the one thing that I want to work on is making the public aware of the root causes of the thalassaemia,” Shah added.

Equipped with modern facilities, dedicated paramedical staff and a sincere administration, the Al-Fajar Foundation is providing blood to more than 300 patients regularly.

The number of the patients is the highest in Malakand Division which is why more initiatives need to be taken by philanthropic organisations and individuals to help assist the administration of the foundation to work more efficiently.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2010.