I would like to respond to the news item reported in your newspaper dated 12 February 2012 regarding liver transplantation of two patients at Shiekh Zayed Hospital Lahore. It was the first of its kind amongst surgeries carried out in the history of Pakistan, involving liver donation from a living donor. Hopefully, this programme shall continue to benefit the lot of poor and helpless patients in Pakistan, who suffer from Hepatic failure and end stage liver diseases.
The selfless, generous help of Indian surgeons, under the leadership of Dr Suraj Gupta, needs to be appreciated and acknowledged. They flew to Lahore despite security threats, which earlier on had discouraged a team of British surgeons who declined to come for the same deed because of insecurity. The collaborative venture between Indian and Pakistani doctors highlights the fact that close cooperation between India and Pakistan is possible. Indo-Pakistan is home to about 1/6th of the world’s population (about 1.5 billion), most of them being poverty stricken, and lacking basic life support facilities. The problem gets complicated by the fact that both are nuclear powers. The only way for our future generations to live and survive is that we mutually accept and respect each other’s existence, resolve disputes and abolish the practise of mistrust. We owe this to our future generations, for this shall bring an era of peace and prosperity, beneficial to both our nations.
These doctors have achieved something which politicians and diplomats have failed at; they have shown that for the betterment of mankind it is possible to work together despite pressing differences. It is thus up to the intelligentsia of both countries to work towards genuine and meaningful cooperation in all areas which can benefit the common man, whose sufferings continue unabated since the past many decades.
DR H DAR
Lahore
