CHARITY/VOLUNTARY WORK

KEMCA UK has been actively supporting various charities in the UK and overseas. Below are few such recent activities.

 In the Annual Meeting held on 16 th September 2006 a charity fund was raised for the Midlands Doctors Association UK .

 In the Annual Meeting held on 23 rd July 2007 a charity fund was raised for the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital Lahore.

Arif Zaheer Memorial Fund

Unfortunately summer of 2007 brought the sad news of Dr Arif Zaheer’s untimely death by Leukaemia. Arif Zaheer, a kemcolian, graduated in 1986/87 and was working as a consultant haematologist at Scarborough General Hospital . He would be remembered for his diligence, commitment & devotion to the profession. His close friends decided to establish a memorial fund in his memory. These friends approached KEMCA UK to assist in this noble cause. The issue was discussed at AGM of KEMCA UK held in July 2007. It was agreed to set up an adhoc committee (Dr Fawad Zaman, Dr Athar Saeed, Dr Tariq Azeem and Dr Shahid Bashir). The executive committee of the KEMCA UK has nominated Dr R Hafiz Rehman as a liaison person to look after this matter. The adhoc committee is in the process of raising funds and further report that how these funds will be spent will be available in due course.

Earthquake in Kashmir – October 2005

October 2005 saw one of the most disastrous earthquake in Pakistan . The stories coming through the media were very heart breaking. Human eyes had never seen such a massive natural destruction. Many kemcolians including Hafiz-ur-Rehman, Reza Dar, Muhammad Rizwan-ul-Hasan, Syed Abdus Saboor, Anjum Bashir, Akmal Makhdum, Kahlid Saeed from the UK went to Pakistan to set up trauma centres, emergency care, field hospitals including provision of psychological care. They worked in close collaboration with local health teams who were involved in setting-up emergency services in the affected areas.

Dr Rehman set up a charity collection and managed to raise nearly £10000, essential equipment and drugs. His team arrived in Rawalpindi  two weeks after the earthquake. They set up a camp at the Holy Family Hospital  in association with other Pakistani doctors from various medical colleges working in UK and provided free treatment to patients affected by earth quake including complex limb saving procedures etc. Their work was carried on by other teams afterwards.

Dr Anjum Bashir visited Balkot, Mansehra just few days after the earthquake and worked with women and children who were in camps and affected psychologically with trauma. Psychological support was also given to the health care workers who were dealing with the casualties. A support programme was set up for the Red Cross volunteers who were working with the trauma victims in Manserah, Bagh and Rawalpindi .

ETRI (Earthquake Trauma Relief Initiative) programme was set up by kemcolian psychiatrists in the UK led by Akmal Makhdum in collaboration with British Pakistani Psychiatrists Association and Royal College of Psychiatrists, London , soon after the earthquake. It was established as a community focussed plan for the psychological support of earthquake victims and included training programme for family practitioners, teachers, voluntary workers; treatment clinics and mentoring programmes.

Free Cleft Lip and Palate Camp in Gujrat in 2005