08 Nov Komal Rizvi raising donations for strips for glucometers

Pakistan’s leading female rock-pop vocalist, in keeping with her desire to give back to her country and continue her social services behind the screen, took a day tour of the diabetes ward in National Institute of Child Health (NICH) recently.

Moved by what she saw and learnt, Rizvi vowed to help the children suffering from diabetes, in every way she can. She has announced on social media, “There are about 300-400 children that come to NICH every month with undiagnosed diabetes. Some have lost an eye already (as personally witnessed) and some have severe liver issues. Each one of them goes home with a glucometer in order to be able to monitor their sugar levels themselves — which is being subsidized by the government. But, these families can’t even afford the testing strips that are needed to check their sugar levels at least once daily, for each strip costs between Rs 20-30. Since they are unable to buy the strips, they are unable to monitor their sugar and land up suffering from a plethora of other diseases too. One 50 strip bottle costs Rs 1150 (subsidized rates) and I would like to raise rupees 10 lacs worth of bottles which I will personally give to Dr Mohsina who heads the Children’s Diabetes ward at NICH to make sure it goes to the most deserving families. I will only give in kind to the hospital, and not be handing over any money to them. Also, I will personally be in constant contact with the doctors that head and/or run this ward. Please help me raise these funds”.

It may be noted, NICH is a 500-bed hospital which is currently under the administrative control of Health Department Government of Sindh. It is the first children’s hospital of the country and presently one of the largest and the only children’s hospital of the province of Sindh. It provides tertiary care services for almost all types of pediatric diseases and is equipped with latest diagnostic gadgetries. Its highly qualified faculty provides teaching and training facilities both at undergraduate and post-graduate levels. It is a prime institution of the country recognized nationally and internationally.