Islamabad :Hussain Ali, a young man of 23 years, was lying in his cot as his friends brought a cake to celebrate his birthday. The cot was tucked in a corner of a hardly 10 x 10 feet, semi-dark room in a small ‘B-category’ quarter in Sector G-7/1 in Islamabad.
There were not many of them but they were trying their best to make him happy, singing, mimicking and cracking jocks as they cut the cake and sang and shouted ‘Happy Birth Day to You’.
He smiled back at them, but could not bring up a laugh. He is dying! Drifting slowly away from life with each passing day, hour, minute and moment as death creeps up on him!
Hussain Ali is suffering from severe liver disease and a liver implant has been recommended by the ‘Special Medical Board’ constituted in response to the application for treatment was moved by his father, Mohammad Taqi.
Obviously he is in no position to hop on a plane and fly to London or the US, or to some other such country in the world to get the required treatment. Though his father is a ‘permanent government servant’, serving as a security guard in the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) in BPS-5, he is not entitled to that kind of treatment.
This is the privilege only to be enjoyed by the ‘elected representatives’ or the top bureaucrats. This also is not available to the members (all ranks) of the Armed forces of Pakistan! (I believe this because I have not heard any general, air chief or admiral travelling abroad for treatment.)
Hussain Ali is the eldest son of Mohammad Taqi who also has two daughters and another son, the youngest in the family. The family had pinned a lot of hopes on Hussain Ali, who was doing his graduation from the Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) as they believe soon he will get a good job after doing his graduation and will start supporting the family.
And then all of a sudden he was diagnosed with ‘Hepatitis B’. He underwent treatment for the disease but after a couple of months gave up on the medicines because those were too expensive. Rs110 for one tablet!
Soon after his condition started deteriorating and now the doctors have declared that he is left with only one option to survive. And that is the liver transplant.
They were recommended to go to a private hospital in town and they demanded Rs4,500,000 (Rs 4.5 million) for the procedure! Poor Sepoy Muhammad Taqi has never counted up to the figure in his life.
As a last resort he submitted an application with the Prime Minister’s office from where his case was recommended for thorough investigations and evaluation. A ‘Special Medical Board’ was constituted which, eventually, seconded the opinion of the specialists who had earlier recommended for liver transplant.
Now, all the formalities have been completed on his request. A final authorization is needed from the office of the Prime Minister where the file is sitting on some desk somewhere. For those in the PM Secretariat this file, obviously, is not very important because there are so many pressing issues at hand of national and international importance Including the NA-120 by-election.
Meanwhile, the family of Hussain Ali is getting more and more desperate with the passage of every single day. They are quietly staring at their son, their future hopes, lying their curled up on the cot in one corner of the small room, with life ebbing out of his frail body.
We don’t know when the PM’s office will cast a glance towards his file for the approval to release the required funds for young Hussain Ali’s treatment.
But, we wonder if some philanthropist individual like Malik Riaz or some organization engaged in helping such needy individuals may take note of the desperate situation of this poor family and come out to their help?
If somebody may wish to reach the poor family and help Hussain Ali get a new lease on life, they can contact his father Muhammad Taqi on his cell phone: 0300-5360019 or visit his home: House B-38/6, Street 34, Sector G-7/1, Islamabad.
