SEPLAA maintains positive attitude!

Speakers of the 'Dialogue on Media & Medical Ethics' at SEPLAA on 8th April, 2010. We are proud to have helped in bridging the differences between the media and medical community! Seen in the picture are Professor Javed Akram (Principal of Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore), Mr. Ahmad Waleed (Bureau Chief of Dawn News Channel), Mrs. Ammara Farooq Malik (President of SEPLAA), Mr. Naveed Naseem (C.E.O. of ICUP Productions), Mr. Hassan Awais Wyne (Treasurer, SEPLAA) and Mrs. Saman Jaffer (SEPLAA Founding Member).

For details see:
http://seplaaeventsnupdates.blogspot.com/2010/04/press-release-dialogue-on-media-and.html

Press Release Dialogue on ‘Media and Medical Ethics’ Organized by SEPLAA On 8th April, 2010

SEPLAA for health, environment and socio legal reform launched their ‘Seeds of Education Project’ on 8^th April, 2010 by holding an apolitical ‘Dialogue on Media and Medical Ethics’ at their D.H.A. Head Office in Lahore.

The house was opened for discussion with the words ‘Dialogue leads to an exchange of ideas which is important for creating an atmosphere of understanding and cooperation.’

The idea was floated by the President of SEPLAA Mrs. Ammara Farooq Malik who said that ‘ The doctors and media are both members of the same community and should be able to talk about their differences through dialogue’.

Professor Javed Akram , the Principal of Allama Iqbal Medical College was one of the speakers who maintained that there should be some standard operating procedures which should be followed by all the media persons as well. He suggested for the doctors that even if they had to hold a protest , they could not suspend the emergency services.

Mr. Naveed Nasim , C.E.O. of ICUP Productions and ex. Senior Producer at Dawn News and Mr. Ahmad Waleed, the Bureau Chief of Dawn News Channel, were members of the media who contributed some positive suggestions for both doctors as well as media persons. Mr. Waleed suggested that the doctors could hold peaceful protests but should not suspend their activities at their hospitals as this affected the welfare of the patients.

Mrs. Ammara Farooq Malik suggested that the previously accepted SOPs should be distributed amongst the participants of the dialogue so that further suggestions for improvement or their implementation could be made.

The dialogue led to the overall suggestions that some training of media persons in the form of a basic media qualification should be there to ensure that the rules under PEMRA and media ethics were followed.

Similarly doctors should be given training in communication skills in all teaching hospitals to show restraint and patience while dealing with difficult situations.

Civil society members should not side with either the media or the medical community because the matter should be amicably resolved between both groups for the benefit of ordinary people.

The event was held in a congenial atmosphere where all the guests seemed relaxed and enthusiastic about the positive outcome of the discussion. Some excellent suggestions were floated by the audience as well.

All the guests appreciated the effort of SEPLAA to promote the atmosphere of peaceful apolitical dialogues and hoped that such seminars would continue in the future as well.

SEPLAA President Mrs. Ammara Farooq Malik, ended the discussion by thanking the guests and hoped that such academic dialogues could become more frequent in the future. She said that SEPLAA would prepare a Dialogue Report on the issue soon. 

Short Responses Required for April Volume of SEPLAA News 2010

Is idealism dead in Pakistan? 

What good can idealism bring us in this complicated modern world? 

Your response may be added in our April Volume of SEPLAA News.

Please give comments below. The best comments will be published in the April Volume of the quarterly SEPLAA News.

SEPLAA Social Reform Proposal Competition, March 2010

Do you want your proposals for social change heard  by the appropriate government quarters? 

Do you feel you have ideas to share and no platform to share them from?

We invite your proposals for social reform in point form (maximum 10 points)  for our March SEPLAA Social Reform Proposal Competition, 2010. 

Please send us your proposals along with a copy of your cv, latest by 30th March, 2010, at info@seplaa.com.

The most useful and workable proposals will enter our April volume of SEPLAA News. 

For further questions please write to the SEPLAA Editorial Team at info@seplaa.com. 

Happy brain storming!

SEPLAA March Article Competition!

As an initiative to involve more and more people to think about their living conditions in Pakistan so that they can contribute positively towards much needed reforms, we are starting a quarterly article writing competition.

 Please submit your articles of around 250 words at info@seplaa.com and get published with SEPLAA! Our publications are going to be circulated in at least 4 continents! Hurry now! 

Rules of the competition:

1. The article must be of 250-300 words.

2. The piece must be written about anything concerning your health, environment, legal disposition or society in general.

3. The piece may criticize present state policies but must end with recommendations on how the problem can be solved.

4 .Members of SEPLAA stand a greater chance of being published but exceptional pieces by non members of our think tank may also be published.

5. The last date for receiving entries is 30th March, 2010.

Best of luck!

SEPLAA's Seminar at SKANS School of Accountancy

SEPLAA visited the SKANS School of Accountancy on 11th March, 2010 to talk about their awareness drive 'Save a life, save a generation'.

The students demonstrated  a lot of interest and were made aware of their health options before getting married.

It was explained that thalessemia can be caused if two carriers of the disease get married. The defect is present in the genes that can be carried forward to their children eventually requiring the child to be blood transfusion dependent for life, unless the child has a risky bone marrow transplant.

One student asked, ' If I smoke a lot, as in be a chain smoker, can I get thalessemia?'

To which the speaker replied, ' No, you can probably have lung cancer but not thalessemia.'
The student was visibly relieved to know this.

SEPLAA's Seminar at Kinnaird College on Medical Negligence in Pakistan

SEPLAA's representatives will be visiting Kinnaird College on Tuesday 23th February, 2010 to talk about the lack of health care facilities in Pakistan and the need for regulation of medical negligence in Pakistan.

Mrs. Ammara Farooq Malik,  Mr. Aqeel Malik and Dr. Iftikar will be the speakers on the occasion.

We will keep you posted about the developments here!

The News covers SEPLAA Events, February 2010

The News covers SEPLAA's Launch of website and Drive

150,000 thalassemia cases in Pakistan

The News

Sunday, February 14, 2010 By Our Correspondent LAHORE THERE are over 150,000 thalassemia major cases in Pakistan and the number is growing. “If two thalassemia minor carriers got married then their children could be born with thalassemia major. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to conduct compulsory blood screening before marriage as one of the basic preventive care,” said Ammara Farooq Malik, President of an NGO, Seeds of Education, Policy & Legal Awareness Association (SEPLAA), while addressing the participants at the launching of a Youth Council and website (www.seplaa.com) to create awareness about SEPLAA’s drive “Save a life, save a generation” at its head office in DHA, Lahore, on Saturday. Ammara Malik proposed to the government that every person should be tested at least once for thalassemia traits and this information could be put on their identity cards along with their blood type. She said that camps for diagnosis of thalassemia would be set up in institutions to identify thalassemia minor carriers. She said that Italy and Greece had some of the highest number of cases of thalassemia and those countries had learnt to take care of the problem at the roots by educating their people that thalassemia could be prevented by taking the responsible action of blood testing before getting married. “We need to create awareness about the importance of premarital blood screening to remove the stigma of ‘shame’ or a ‘social taboo’ attached with this practice. Earlier, a video clip of an 11-year-old thalessemic girl Kiran Ashfaq, who died after the failure of her bone marrow transplant, was also shown to highlight the gravity of the issue. Besides, Hassan Awais Wyne, Zahra Wyne, Saman Jaffer, Jaffer Mateen, Khurram Zafar and other members and volunteers were also present.

SEPLAA's Awareness Drive 'Save a life, save a generation' Flyer

News Report about SEPLAA's Awareness Drive

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=223760Drive against cousin marriages

By Our Correspondent

briefs...

The News

Friday, February 12, 2010

LAHORE

The Seeds of Education, Policy & Legal Awareness Association has launched an awareness drive “Save a life, Save a Generation” to control cousin marriages which can pose health risks. In this regard, the NGO also officially launched a website (www.seplaa.com) during a press conference here at Lahore Press Club. Speaking on the occasion, Ammara Farooq Malik, the President of SEPLAA said, “At least 10 per cent of Pakistan’s population or one in every 10 people is a thalassemia minor carrier. At this estimated rate, the number of thalassemia cases will be doubled to over 200,000 in the next 10 years.”

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=223760

Launch of the National SEPLAA Youth Council, February 2010

The Seeds of Education, Policy & Legal Awareness Association launched the National SEPLAA Youth Council at the official Launch of their website on 12th of February, 2010. 

The National SEPLAA Youth Council is going to promote the causes of SEPLAA through awareness drives, holding plays and concerts which will highlight the social messages of SEPLAA and contribute their thoughts in the SEPLAA publications.

The National SEPLAA Council will have five permanent members and 15 annually elected members who will decide the agenda of the Youth Council in the National SEPLAA Youth Conference to be held in April this year.

For further details please visit :

http://www.seplaa.com/seplaa-councils.php

Informal Talk on the Awareness Drive 'Save a life, save a generation'

The Seeds of Education, Policy & Legal Awareness Association held an informal talk on their recently launched Awareness Drive 'Save a life, save a generation'.

Speaking on the occasion, the President of SEPLAA Mrs. Ammara Farooq Malik explained that the issue of compulsory blood screening before marriage is one of the basic preventive care that parents to be can take. The issue was elaborated by showing the guests a video clip of an eleven year old thalessemic girl, Kiran Ashfaq,  who died after the failure of her bone marrow transplant. The guests were deeply moved by the memorial video of the girl and expressed their strong commitment to support the cause of SEPLAA.

During the question answer session, several key suggestions were given by SEPLAA members Jaffer Mateen and Khurram Zafar. It was suggested that camps could be set up in institutions where the samples of students could be taken as a routine matter and the students could be informed whether they were thalassemia minor carriers.

Mrs. Ammara Farooq Malik explained at the launch ceremony that if two thalassemia minors carriers got married then their children could be born with thalassemia major. ‘There are over 150,000 thalassemia major cases in Pakistan and the number is growing.’

‘We propose that that every person should be tested at least once for thalassemia traits and this information can be put on their identity cards along with their blood type’, she added.

Some of the guests present expressed their reservation over the expectation of such a blood screening requirement, terming it very difficult to talk about a topic which is considered ‘shameful’ in our society. To this concern, Mrs. Farooq replied that ‘we want to create so much awareness about the importance of premarital blood screening that in a matter of a few years, this concept will become a routine matter and not a cause for ‘shame’ or a ‘social taboo’ as was the case in all the civilized countries. Italy and Greece had some of the highest number of cases of thalassemia and those countries have learnt to take care of the problem at the roots by educating their people that thalassemia can be prevented by taking the responsible action of blood testing before getting married.’

‘It is easier to donate blood but much harder to change the way people think about blood screening before getting married. But we are very hopeful and very enthusiastic to take up this challenge for the sake of our future generations’, she added.

Also present on the occasion were Mr. Hassan Awais Wyne, the Treasurer of SEPLAA, Ms. Zahra Wyne the General Secretary, Mrs. Saman Jaffer founding member and Head of Event Management at SEPLAA apart from several distinguished guests.

In the end, Mrs. Ammara Farooq Malik thanked Mohsin Javed, a student volunteer who had designed the website of SEPLAA. She also thanked the other volunteers, guests and members who helped make the event  a great success.

Later information leaflets about SEPLAA’s drive ‘Save a life, save a generation’ were distributed amongst the guests and the guests were then invited to have tea.

Launch of SEPLAA's website at D.H.A., Lahore Head Office

The Seeds of Education, Policy & Legal Awareness Association (SEPLAA) officially launched their website www.seplaa.com at their D.H.A. Lahore Head Office amidst several enthusiastic volunteers, members and concerned citizens.

At th launch ceremony, Mrs. Ammara Farooq Malik, the President of SEPLAA thanked Mohsin Javed, a student volunteer who had designed the website of SEPLAA. 

SEPLAA Representatives will keep updating the website on a regular basis and so urged the members to keep retuning to it for updates and follow up of events.

Press Conference to discuss SEPLAA's Position Paper on Compulsory Blood Screening

Launch of the Health Awareness Drive

‘Save a life, save a generation’

                                                               On 10^th February, 2010     

                                                  

SEPLAA’S Position Paper  on Compulsory Blood Screening

February, 2010:

• We urge the people of Pakistan to acknowledge the health risks involved with inter- marriages. The highest numbers of people at risk to transfer a hereditary or contagious disease in Pakistan are people in the NWFP.

• At least 10 per cent of Pakistan's population or one in every ten persons is a thalassemia minor carrier.

• At this estimated rate, the number of thalassemia cases will be doubled to over 200,000 in the next 10 years.

• There are 5,000 to 6,000 thalassemia babies born every year.

• The estimated birth rate of thalassemia-affected children is 1.3 per 1,000 live births.

• Pakistan has more than 1,50,000 thalassemia major cases.
   The national exchequer incurs an expenditure of approximately Rs 130,000 per thalassemic child annually.

• These are only estimated numbers, the actual numbers (including the unreported cases, the deaths following birth and the cases involving other blood disorders such as enzyme deficiencies) are much higher.
  
  
• We need to educate people in the urban cities first that getting one’s blood screened for thalassemia traits or HIV and Hepatitis C is not a matter of ‘shame’ but of ‘social responsibility’.

• We urge the provincial governments to allocate a separate budget for compulsory blood screening of all men and women at the time of the making of the National Identity cards in order to control the increase in the cases of thalassemia, Hepatitis C and HIV.

Press Conference to launch website and health awareness drive 'Save a life, save a generation.'

Press Conference held at the Lahore Press Club

On 10^th February, 2010

The Seeds of Education, Policy & Legal Awareness Association (SEPLAA) held a press conference at the Lahore Press Club on the 10^th of February, 2010 to officially launch the website of SEPLAA. The Conference also highlighted the first awareness drive of its kind in Pakistan ‘Save a life, save a generation’, seeking to control inter marriages or marriages with cousins which can pose health risks.

Speaking on the occasion, Mrs. Ammara Farooq Malik, the President of SEPLAA remarked, ‘At least 10 per cent of Pakistan's population or one in every ten persons is a thalassemia minor carrier. At this estimated rate, the number of thalassemia cases will be doubled to over 200,000 in the next 10 years.’

Mrs. Farooq further stressed, ‘’ We urge the people of Pakistan to acknowledge the health risks involved with inter- marriages’ adding ‘ The highest numbers of people at risk to transfer a hereditary or contagious disease in Pakistan are people in the NWFP.’

To a question raised by the media, Mrs. Ammara Farooq Malik explained that SEPLAA is a not for profit think tank which is an activist organization in creating awareness. ‘We hope that some day, through our efforts, we will make the concept of premarital blood screening so common in Pakistan that it will be considered a routine matter as it is in all the civilized countries of the world and even in most Muslim states such as Iran, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia.’

Also present on the occasion were Mr. Hassan Awais Wyne, Treasurer of SEPLAA, THE Secretary General Ms. Zahra Wyne and Ms. Saman Jaffer, another Founding Member and Head of Event Management at SEPLAA.

SEPLAA representatives while later talking to the media, expressed their concern that  the figures quoted are only estimated numbers as the actual numbers of thalassemia cases and deaths due to hereditary blood disorders (including the unreported cases, the deaths following birth and the cases involving other blood disorders such as enzyme deficiencies) are much higher.

In the end, the President of SEPLAA urged the provincial governments to allocate a separate budget for compulsory blood screening of all men and women at the time of the making of the National Identity cards in order to control the increase in the cases of thalassemia, Hepatitis C and HIV. ‘Not only will this step ensure that everyone will know whether they are carriers of the disease but this information can also prove useful at the time of accidents’.

“We need to educate people in the urban cities first that getting one’s blood screened for thalassemia traits or HIV and Hepatitis C is not a matter of ‘social taboo’ but of ‘social responsibility”, said Mrs. Ammara Farooq. SEPLAA representatives later expressed that they hoped to not only create awareness through the media, publications and educational institutions but intended to train other social workers to be able to counsel prospective marriage couples before they decided to tie the knot.

As a concluding remark the representative added, ‘At SEPLAA, we seek to transform public opinion through research, dialogue, discussions and creating awareness amongst the youth, academia, media and concerned citizens so that one day these principles will become ascendant and replace public opinion which over looks the basic and most fundamental needs of our society.’

Welcome

Welcome to the 'Events & Updates' blog of the Seeds of Education, Policy & Legal Awareness Association (SEPLAA).