Imran Khan's Cancer Fund-Raiser

 

(29) Imran Khan's Cancer Fund-Raiser

12-2-98

by Fazeel Azeez Chauhan

Some of Pakistan's best artists gathered last Saturday, to raise money for a worthy cause. These celebrities included an acclaimed rock band named Junoon, the most innovative comedian Moin Akhtar and famous Cricketer-turned-politician, Imran Khan. The event was a great success because in a matter of a few hours, around $130,000 was raised for the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital.

The hospital is located in Lahore and is named after Mr. Khan's mother. He talked about the poor conditions of health care in Pakistan. "My mother had colon cancer which is usually one of the easiest type of cancers to detect. But when her simple tests were conducted at three different labs, none of them provided the same results". Only fifty years ago, the country was founded on the basis of Islamic values. But now some people are promoting a new god: money. They illegally produce counterfeit items. From the packaging, it is impossible to tell which box of Gold Leaf cigarettes is fake. In the case of cigarettes, both the real and the fake ones can cause cancer. But what happens when the person with lung cancer requires medical care and can't tell if the medicine he's taking is fake also?

According to Bashir Ahmad the miniature painter, a person with a minor ailment, who walks into a clinic can easily end up being brought out dead. He may receive an injection through a contaminated needle and become infected with the AIDS virus. Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan got infected with Hepatitis in a hospital while going through a kidney dialysis procedure. Hepatitis can usually be contracted in dirty places. According to Islam, cleanliness is half the religion. From Shamans to Hakeems to Doctors, the profession of healing is meant to be sacred. This is a field in which sanitary conditions and purity of medicine is essential. But what can people do when they can't find unadulterated medicines? Patients who would quickly recover if treated with the real medicine, often end up getting sicker because they received impure medicine. Many people suffer from dangerous side effects because medicines have been turned to poison. There are victims in my own family. To get rich quick, the hell bound manufacturers are killing people. They have Muslim names but have forgotten an inevitable meeting with their maker.

Thus the general situation of medical care is hopeless. So Imran Khan's mission is to create a model institution which would raise the standards of medicine in the whole country. SKMC hospital is the only one dedicated solely to cancer treatment in Pakistan. The country's population is over 130 million. Due to widespread uncleanliness, cigarette smoking, poor nutrition and pollution, there are probably a million people suffering from cancer. SKMC hospital is a ray of hope in such a bleak environment.

Imran Khan assured the supporters that "To avoid what happened with his mother for example, lab tests are now being conducted at the hospital which are accurate and reliable. Over the last three years, more than 200,000 patient visits have occurred. The total cost incurred in this process has been $15,000,000. We are so overwhelmed with the quantity of patients that many simply have to be turned away. The hospital was built and is maintained without any help from the government. We are only able to accept patients whose chance of survival is over 50 percent. The treatment is free for 95% of the patients and people come from as far away as Afghanistan. Our purpose is to treat a poor person as a human being. All our patients are treated with equality. Thirty percent of our budget is for purchasing medicines and equipment from outside the country. We have difficulties now because of the Rupee's devaluation".

An introductory video about the hospital, titled "Vision of Hope" was shown. The non-Pakistani director talked about plans to create mobile cancer units. Beloved comedian Mr. Moin Akhtar was said to have played an important role in pioneering the hospital. He is also a big supporter of the Insaaf party to get Mr. Khan elected into government. Most expatriates sadly watch the deterioration of Pakistan and pray that an honest leader would come and put the country back on track. Many would support the elimination of corruption "by any means necessary". Hopefully, Imran Khan will get elected as Prime Minister soon and solve the problems utilizing an honorable and well educated team of assistants. People's skepticism, hopelessness and a sense of failure will be overcome.

Unfortunately, the audience didn't get a chance to enjoy Moin Akhtar's hilarious comedy. He only told a couple of jokes because it was a serious event. Though he was ill, he still hosted the show and said "At one point I did so many shows that I thought I might end up in the Cancer hospital myself. I truly respect Captaan Saheb and will follow his leadership anywhere. Life is a reel which doesn't have a "Rewind" button. Quran stresses that a person should attempt to think about and understand his life. Please help the cancer patients who don't have any place else to go for treatment. Even a one cent donation will help someone in the hospital. I was moved when a little child donated two dollars".

Recitation of the holy Quran was by Mohammad Khan. Opening remarks were by Dr. Mohammad Razaq. The speakers included Dr. Khalid Sheikh, Abubakar Vakil, Dr. Nafees Nagy and Safi Qureshi. Many people crowded around Mr. and Mrs. Imran Khan to chat and take pictures with them. The night was closed by the energizing music of "Junoon". The rock band opened with "Laal Mayree Pat" and their number one hit "Sayyonee". They played all their popular songs for over an hour. The young crowd thoroughly enjoyed their powerful music though the older people started moving further and further away from the ceiling-high speakers. Junoon is probably the best South Asian band in the world. They have been able to cross the political and religious boundaries to become widely accepted even in India. The multi-cultural union of these musicians is highly commendable.

An important lesson learned was that celebrities have a much easier time raising money. A week earlier, the Council on American-Islamic Affairs was pulling teeth to raise $88,000. But Imran Khan, Moin Akhtar and Junoon did not have to say much to get people to empty their pockets. One person even gave a blank check. One volunteer was privately preaching Pakistani patriotism against Indians. The ten years of university education in America was unable to eliminate prejudice. Truth is, no matter which group or sub-group you don't like, human beings have most things in common with each other. We should learn from Cancer which is better than racists, because it has no prejudice. That is why people who are richer and luckier put in a lot of effort to make this humanitarian event a success. We salute all the unsung heroes who put so much time, energy and money to organize the fund raiser to help a group of people who may be less fortunate than us