The Patients' Welfare Association (PWA) is a non-political, non-governmental organization (NGO) located within

Civil Hospital Dr. Ruth K. M. Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi, commonly known as Civil Hospital Karachi, is a 1,900-bed tertiary care public hospital that imparts both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and training. It is one of the teaching hospitals aff ...

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

run by the students of Dow Medical College, which works for the medical aid of underprivileged patients by providing a number of services free of cost. The organization depends upon its donors and volunteers for its functionality and maintenance. Other than conventional charity donations and

zakat Zakat ( ar, زكاة; , "that which purifies", also Zakat al-mal , "zakat on wealth", or Zakah) is a form of almsgiving, often collected by the Muslim Ummah. It is considered in Islam as a religious obligation, and by Quranic ranking, is ne ...

funds, PWA also holds many fund raising campaigns such as bakesales and promotion in school campuses. Established in 1979, by three students of Dow Medical College, it soon transformed from being a small student based organization to a much larger movement with much coverage of their humanitarian deeds being publicized by means of local Television channels, Newspaper, Radio as well as their own newsletter which is circulated in their locality.

History

Patients' Welfare Association was established as a small student based organization by three students of Dow Medical College in 1979, with simple services such as free of cost drugs for needy patients. In the years to come the organization gained much popularity and by 1982 it had gained enough funds and volunteer force to form a blood bank and a

Thalassemia Thalassemias are inherited blood disorders characterized by decreased hemoglobin production. Symptoms depend on the type and can vary from none to severe. Often there is mild to severe anemia (low red blood cells or hemoglobin). Anemia can result ...

Follow-up Clinic. With their influence spreading, in 1986 a diagnostic laboratory was set up.

Services

With the slogan "''We feel, We serve''," their existence depends on service to the underprivileged segment of society. The organization achieves this by means of several departments which have been built within the vicinity of

Blood bank

The Blood bank provides more than 350 units of blood daily on exchange basis not only to patients of Civil Hospital Karachi, but also extends its services to patients all over the city. All units dispatched are screened for Hepatitis B,

Hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection people often have mild or no symptoms. Occasionally a fever, dark urine, a ...

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

Syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...

and Malarial Parasite, thus ensuring patient safety. The blood bank also provides blood components such as packed cells, platelets and fresh frozen plasma. The Blood Bank has also started the service of providing mega unit of platelets to patients of Civil Hospital Karachi, free of cost.

Thalassemia Services

Previously working under the 'Follow Up Clinics', PWA Thalassemia Services was upgraded to a separate department with the start of transfusion facility for registered Thalassemia patients in 2011. The department has 260 registered patients with Thalassemia, a hereditary blood disorder. These patients are receiving regular blood transfusions and consultations by a qualified Haematologist along with regular diagnostic investigations. Due to shortage of funds, only 60 registered patients are currently being provided with Iron

chelation therapy Chelation therapy is a medical procedure that involves the administration of Chelation, chelating agents to remove heavy metals from the body. Chelation therapy has a long history of use in clinical toxicology and remains in use for some very sp ...

. Efforts are under-way to collect funds and start provision of Iron chelation therapy to all registered patients. The cost of treatment of one patients with this lifelong disease is Pakistani Rs. 300,000 - Rs. 500,000 per annum depending upon the age and blood transfusion needs of the patient. PWA Thalassemia Services is providing all these facilities completely free of charge.

Other events

The Patients' Welfare Association holds many events; from fund raising activities to seminars concerning local medical issues. One of their main fund raising events is an annual ‘Food Mela', a bake sale of colossal magnitude, where funds more than one million rupees have been gathered in recent years.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Organisations based in Karachi Medical and health organisations based in Pakistan