06-20-2010, 12:20 AM
Health Care on the Front Lines
Despite the cool mountain morning and relentless spring drizzle, Rukhtaj Bibi, 35, waits patiently in line for her turn to speak with Dr. Shazia Toqeer at CARE's new community-based tent clinic in Kuliga, Pakistan. Today is the clinic's first day of operation in this community, and word has spread quickly among the women that a female doctor has come.
"I did not know that women could be doctors," says Ruktaj,
who brought her son Muqaddas, 18 months, to be treated for diarrhea and fever.
![[Image: toqeer_full.jpg]](http://www.care.org/photos/_full/toqeer_full.jpg)
Dr. Shazia Toqeer, right, examines Zebunisa at the tent clinic in Kuliga, Pakistan.
For many women in this remote, conservative region, treatment from a male doctor would be out of the question.
"CARE is working to expand heath care opportunities to women in this area,"
says Toqeer."The fact that I am a woman and a doctor allows me to reach countless women who would otherwise suffer their illnesses in silence and put themselves at greater risk."
The tent clinic in Kuliga is a prime example of CARE's commitment to improving health care in earthquake-affected areas of Pakistan. While operating post-treatment recuperation centers immediately after October's deadly quake, CARE soon realized the extreme need for additional, improved facilities across the region.
"For women, access to medical care is extremely limited,"
observes Dr. Toqeer.
"Even if they are comfortable seeing a male doctor, they must often travel many miles to the nearest clinic. When available, transportation is far too expensive, so they walk sometimes for hours to receive even the most basic, yet lifesaving, help."
Ruktaj is no stranger to this inconvenience.
"If any of my children were sick, even before the earthquake, I would have to take them all the way to Shikari. That was the closest clinic. A six-hour walk away! And now, that clinic is no more. Completely destroyed. Today, I was here in only 15 minutes. You can see my home, just over that hill,"
she says, gesturing across the rugged landscape.
Each clinic will staff both male and female doctors who visit communities each week on a rotating basis. To fill in the gaps and lighten the doctors' load of patients, CARE is also training community health volunteers to dispense over-the-counter medications and treat minor emergencies.
"Since we live here, in the community," says volunteer Mohammad Riaz, "I am available around the clock. People know where to find me at any time. We do everything from handing out aspirin and cough syrup to promoting good hygiene. For more serious cases, we refer patients to the doctor. And for emergencies, we can call a physician to come immediately. This type of treatment was never available to us before."
![[Image: toqeer2_full.jpg]](http://www.care.org/photos/_full/toqeer2_full.jpg)
Dr. Toqeer, center, speaks with Farzana in the tent clinic in Kuliga.
Ruktaj's moment to see Dr. Toqeer has arrived. Listless and thin, little Muqaddas patiently allows himself to be examined.
"On the surface, this is a simple case of diarrhea," Toqeer explains. "It can easily be treated, yet countless children die unnecessarily mainly from dehydration. The bigger issue," she says, "is information. This child is nearly 2 years old, yet he is surviving on breast milk and cow's milk alone. He is getting no other nutrients. For me, education is the most lifesaving treatment I can administer. Solid knowledge about nutrition and hygiene will go so much further toward keeping Ruktaj and her family healthy and safe than any medicine I can give them."
Besides providing vital health care to women and their families, CARE and Dr. Toqeer recognize that education and knowledge are key to helping women around the world improve their lives and secure a better future for their children.
CARE is working to establish as many as 400 community-based tent clinics in villages across the earthquake zone.
"It is such a benefit to have a doctor and clinic right here in our own village," says Ruktaj, covering her wide smile. "We are poor people. Sometimes our health is all we have."
