Dubai: Pakistani expatriates will soon be able to keep their elderly parents or terminally ill relatives in comfort in the only free hospice in Karachi.
Rahat Kada, which means ‘peace house' in Urdu is building its new premises in Karachi to provide nursing facilities to terminally ill cancer and Aids patients in addition to opening an old people's home.
Rahat Kada is the only charity hospice in Pakistan's largest city with a population of 190 million.
Dr Saira S. Khan, founder president of the Medical Aid Foundation, which runs Rahat Kada, said: "Presently, our services are free because all our terminally ill patients are very poor and cannot afford medical treatment. They cannot even afford to pay for their care to live their remaining lives in peace."
Speaking at a meeting with some Pakistani businessmen in Dubai on Wednesday, Khan said she established Rahat Kada about 19 years ago to provide intensive care to cancer patients so that they can spend the last days of their lives in dignity and comfort.
Presently, Rahat Kada can accommodate only 25 patients. Its expenses are met by organising fund-raising functions and by donations from community members.
Bigger facility
"We are preparing to build a bigger facility with at least 100 beds and separate facilities for Aids and cancer patients, apart from an old people's home. We have the land but could not start the construction due to an economic crunch.
"But we are determined to complete the projects because there are thousands of terminally ill patients who need care and attention," she said.
Khan, who has been taking care of cancer patients for the last 34 years, said that more than 90 per cent of cancer cases in Pakistan are detected at the third or fourth stages when they are not curable.
Main motive
"Treatment is expensive and time-consuming. Our main emphasis is on providing comfort and dignity to the patients and support to the family members," she added.
At Rahat Kada, patients are provided extensive medical and nursing facilities.
"Such hospice facilities are very important because we have witnessed that many patients start responding to the treatment if they are kept in comfort with respect and dignity," she added.
Appealing to community members to help, Khan said that the number of Aids patients was increasing and there was a need to provide them with shelter to spend the last days of their lives comfortably.
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For more information about Rahat Kada, please visit: www.maf.com.pk
