Crowdfunding for Surgical Costs for Poor people in Pakistan

Ayesha was just 4 ½ years old when she was diagnosed with Anorectal Malformation (ARM), leading to severe miscommunication between the rectum and genital tract. Doctors had to conduct her colostomy when she was just 11 days old to make a temporary passage of stool. Doctors had advised her for another surgery to construct her back passage at the normal site.

When her poor parents couldn’t afford the second surgery they had no other way out except to seek help from Transparent Hands, a nonprofit organization operating a crowdfunding platform to help patients like Ayesha for their medical treatments.   

Transparent hands launched a fundraising campaign for this poor  girl and successfully rose the required funding to enable her parentsto pay for the surgery cost and hospital bills. Ayesha’s Anterior Sagittal Anorectoplasty was done in the Akram Medical Complex on 28^th August this year by Dr. Naveed Haider and she was discharged within a few days after a good post-operative recovery.

Medical Crowdfunding is a new idea in Pakistan but it has the potential to become a powerful platform for the poor and needy patients to be able to share their stories and connect emotionally with thousands of people which are nearly impossible to carry out with traditional forms of fundraising.

Crowdfunding for Surgical Treatment for poor people of Pakistan

When we have the ability  to use technology to save lives we should make most out of these Crowdfunding sites as the gateway to advocate for the poor families and their basic healthcare rights so that no life is lost at a premature stage.

Crowdfunding platforms are using thepower of the internet via smartphones, laptops, and tablets, to reach out to potential donors who have the ability and will to support a fundraising campaign to save a life. 

Donors are able to learn more about the patient’s medical history, treatment expenses and personal hurdles in their own time and are able to make a contribution instantly. This eliminates the lengthy process of having to wait for a certain day and time for the fundraising event to take place. This leaves with tremendous opportunity to raise donations faster and helps the family to admit their patient in the hospital and commence with their treatment as soon as possible. 

Download our TransparentHands iPhone Application for Online Donation

Conclusion:

The medical journey of a patient is sensitive and emotional. Medical Crowdfunding can help people overcome their most vulnerable and toughest time in life while inspiring others in a similar situation to stay strong and overcome their own challenges.

In Pakistan, Crowdfunding platforms can be an asset to our healthcare system empowering health professionals to provide medical care to every patient regardless of their societal standard and financial status.

Pakistan is a developing country at present with a population of approximately 200 million people struggling hard to improve its public health infrastructures and services.There are only 197 public sector hospitals in Pakistan to meet the healthcare needs of 200 million people.The government allocates just 0.67% of GDP on the public healthcare sector which obviously cannot sustain the health infrastructure and other resourcesfor such a huge population.

On the other side, Pakistan has 58.7 million of its citizens living under the intolerable poverty line who can hardly afford full two times meals each day let alone basic healthcare or medical treatment.

The poorrely heavily on the public hospitals because the private clinicsequipped with latest medical facilities and foreign qualified surgeons are only meant for those who can pay thousands of rupees without much difficulty.

The poor patients are willing to accept their serious health conditions and live in pain rather visiting a private clinic because they know they will be denied treatment and will be thrown out with humiliation. So the poor patients have to wait for months to get an appointment with a doctor in a public hospital.

Healthcare is a basic right and the government of any state is bound to fulfill thisobligation. Unfortunately, in Pakistan, the poor people are compelled to beg for iteveryday. The social inequality and discriminationare so prominent in Pakistan that the poor are forced to compromise with their self-respect and dignity to have access to basic healthcare which is both their constitutional and human rights.

Crowdfunding platforms have become a reliable platform which the poor can trust and can seek help in their most hopeless situation. Numerous patients have received specialized care after it was funded by the fundraising platforms otherwise many of these patients would have been living an abnormal life. 

We have become educated and have made impressive advancements in the field of technology but it’s high time we learn how to become true human beings. We must learn to become the reason for which a helpless individual feels seen, heard, secured and supported by the universe of humanity.

Download our TransparentHands Andriod Application for Online Donation