In an environment when working professionals rarely venture into the entrepreneurial realm – for obvious reasons – Mid City Hospital provides an interesting novelty. The reasoning is devilishly simple. Few eager and like-minded colleagues, in this case doctors, get together, and leverage their skills in a similar work-setting, but their own. This led to the creation of Mid City. But of course that is not all. The new setting needed innovation to bag a powerful punch, and the doctors had been researching groundbreaking advances in gynecology, hence the special focus on unprecedented technological modernisation, principally in the widely misunderstood phenomenon of so-called test-tube babies.
Man behind the hospital
Dr Saqib Siddiq, doctor obstetrician and gynecologist, with a special interest in infertility, has more than two decades of experience in teaching and practicing gynecology. He was a prominent member of the pioneer team that made Pakistan’s first test-tube baby in 1989. Since then, while the practice has gained in popularity and practice internationally, its success has not found as many enthusiasts as expected considering Pakistan’s dismal fertility statistics, the least of the reasons being technological capacity. The main hurdle has been getting past regressive attitudes. The problem is not as simple as traditional orthodoxy retarding a progressive business model. While attitudinal pitfalls exist, a far more common deterrent has largely been the collective failure of males in our periphery to accept increasing infertility. The phenomenon being more common among males than females, societal strains are a far bigger stumbling block. However, there has been progress in addressing attitudinal rigidities of late.
Misunderstood and misreported
Contrary to popular belief, test-tube babies are not made in test tubes. This term was made famous by the early 20th century novel Brave New World. The correct terminology is In Vitro Fertilisation, commonly referred to as IVF. Practitioners have also failed to communicate the procedure properly to the common general audience. The embryo is not kept in a tightly guarded, high-tech lab, but must be transferred right back to the womb. Dr Saqib’s endeavour has also led to a parallel crusade, one directly related to general enlightening of the masses on the issue of gynecology in general and fertility in particular. The birth-attendant syndrome, that was transformed into the midwife system, has been a disaster, particularly in far-off areas. People not trained to handle delivery and gyne issues end up causing serious fertility problems, increasing the incidence of infertility. Part of the hospital’s marketing drive is understandably overcoming this basic information gap, which is made worse by regressive attitudes. Yet of late there has been progress.
Mid City – case study
Established on 1st January 2011, Mid City Hospital is a major breakthrough en route to disease curtailment in Pakistan. It is the pioneer of ‘steam cell therapy’, which was unfathomable in the days gone by and is now a veritable reality. Mid City Hospital is the brainchild of Dr Saqib Siddiq, who is the driving force behind conjuring up such pioneering technology that promulgates ‘Obsterics’ and ‘Gynaecology’ like it has never been done before. Dr Saqib Siddiq is the pioneer of ICSI (Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection) technology in Pakistan and rose to fame owing to his groundbreaking contribution in IVF (Test tube baby). The IVF project is a novelty in Pakistan and Mid City Hospital ensures that all bases are covered in providing the healthcare facilities, care, hygienic atmosphere and state of the art facilities from the top drawer. With a success rate of 35 per cent Mid City Hospital ranks amongst the topmost hospitals around the globe. The hospital also guarantees supreme nourishment of the baby and ensures that it comes with its own natural resources to cure diseases. Owing to a colossal breakthrough in medical research it has been discovered that umbilical cord blood and cord tissue are among the most opulent sources of stem cells that have a massive potential to treat over 75 menacing ailments and has the potential to counter more threats in the future as well.
Safety first, core responsibility
The team ensures that the entire process is a simple and painless process that ensures the safety of the child and the entire family. It has also been noted that cord blood is a rich source of lifesaving stem cells for the baby, and can also be used as extremely fruitful alternatives to embryonic, bone marrow and other stem cell types. Dr Saqib Siddiq’s revolutionary mind ensures that the attention to detail is uncompromising and all the prerequisites are taken care of. All the protective measures aren’t merely for the benefit of the baby, they connote protective measures for the entire family; an investment for the entire family, if you will. When one banks his baby’s cord blood stem cells with a private bank, one can indubitably enjoy peace of mind with the knowledge that the baby’s stem cells are available – should there ever be a need. It is indeed a once in a life time opportunity to preserve a biological source that could act as a lifesaver for the child and the family members. Also, it is a lifesaving to bone marrow transplants, which can be quite cumbersome to deal with. And more importantly using cord blood stem cells in lieu of other alternatives ensures that there is a lower probability of graft versus host disease (GVHD) and a much greater likelihood of finding an apposite tissue match. Cord blood is also facile to retrieve and availability is not an issue unlike the bone marrow which is harder to trace in synchrony with a particular HAD type.
As good as anywhere
Mid City hospital provides the apt mélange of medical savoir faire and personalised care. It also ensures that one doesn’t have to face the tiring prospect of going abroad for treatment, and genuine world class facilities are available in our neck of the woods. Comfort, health, excellence or cleanliness; none of the ingredients of ideal healthcare are compromised and hence Mid City hospital is one of a kind in terms of its all-round repertoire. In addition to the aforementioned IVF, there is a myriad of other surgeries that the hospital, under the competent leadership of Dr Saqib, offers. Dr Saqib has created a marvel in Mid City hospital and the facilities provided are second to none. One only has to visit the place, and the ambiance of the place takes care of the rest.
Down the road
The good doctor’s future plan is to set up a state of the art medical college alongside the hospital. The last two years or so have seen a mushroom growth among medical institutions, and quality of most cannot possibly be guaranteed. Though bogus schools should be discouraged aggressively across the board, the matter is more sensitive when it comes to medical training, as students will sooner or later find themselves directly impacting lives in a very important manner.
The writer is Sub-Editor, Profit. He can be reached at [email protected]
impressive….
I had been acquaintance with Dr. Saqib Saddiq a decade before when he was serving as consultant in hameed latif hospital. I found him competent, cooperative, warm and very helpful docotor.
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