Mothers and other women are dying from preventable causes in Pakistan because their lives are not valued, obstetrician Shershah Syed told Duke Global Health symposium on May 25.
Syed, who works at the Koohi Goth Hospital in Karachi and the former president of the nation’s Society of Obstetricians & Gynecologists, said the women suffer from a lack of medical assistance and abandonment by their husbands, fathers and brothers.
These problems were made worse by the massive flooding of 2010. He showed the global health meeting a video of his work in Pakistan’s remote villages during that crisis. Those who survived the flooding in cities such as Sindh and Sukkur were left without food and medical supplies.
This need caused Syed to set out on a mission to deliver packages of medical resources to those who were left homeless. “This situation is so sad,” Syed said. “One-third of these people are living below poverty.”
He says it’s disturbing to think how such affluent countries like India and Pakistan could have many areas below the poverty level. “These are rich countries, but their priorities are wrong.”
Less than 6% of spending in Pakistan goes towards medical care and less than 2% in education. Syed wants to see change.
“The solution lies in the government,” said Syed. “The money given from donors should go towards women and education; instead it ends up in the government’s hands.”
Read the full story on the Duke Research Blog.
