Helping Arthritis Patients Fight Disability

Agility is a blessing. One only realizes it when one is going through the ordeal of arthritis. It makes one’s joints red and swollen. One is unable to take the usual stroll down the street. One cannot perform the daily household chores because of the weakness of legs. Clicking bones and cracking joints is the sound that the patients of Arthritis become used to.

Being ambulatory is one of the greatest blessings that Allah has bestowed upon us and this is something that only the people suffering from the painful disease of Arthritis realize. Arthritis causes stiffness, swelling and pain in or around joints and is a recurring disorder which affects around 14 million people in Pakistan. Out of the affected people, 50% are above 71 years.

The wrong diagnosis or treatment of Arthritis could lead to a permanent disability of the patient. As Arthritis attacks each and every minor joint of the body, there comes a stage when no medicine can cure it and surgery becomes compulsory to save a patient’s life.

In Pakistan, a large proportion of the population suffers from joint pain (a symptom of Arthritis) but most of the people ignore it and do not visit the doctor for diagnosis or treatment. Therefore, Fatima Memorial Hospital in collaboration with Arthritis Care Foundation (ACF) has been helping the destitute to overcome this painful disease by creating awareness through Arthritis walks and seminars and also by providing free or subsidized treatment to Arthritis patients.

However, the number of patients who require free treatment is rising day by day and the resources of Fatima Memorial Hospital are limited. This has made it very hard to cater to the patient population which is ratcheting up. Therefore, we request our altruistic donors to support us in our cause of making Pakistan free from Arthritis!

Free diagnostics, medication and even surgery (joint replacement) were provided to Arthritis patients free of cost or on subsidized rates using the funds donated by our auspicious donors. Hence, we request our esteemed donors to help us in this cause and ease the suffering of thousands of patients suffering from this painful and deadly (in extreme cases) disease!

Thank you!

“I am an arthritis patient. I wake up every day and wish to take a stroll down the road with my grandchild but my red and swollen joints do not allow me to do so. I want to help my ailing wife with the daily chores but I feel useless because of my weak legs. I want to go out to meet my friends and hear the sound of their laughter but all I can hear is the sound of my cracking joints. I wish I could walk as nimbly as I used to. I wish I could lose all the stiffness and swelling around my joints and play around with my grandchild. I wish I could…”

Above is the plight of an arthritis patient. Being able to move smoothly is one of the greatest blessings bestowed upon us by God but there are people out there who lose this blessing to one of the most painful diseases called Arthritis. Arthritis is a disorder that causes pain, stiffness and swelling in or around joints and is a chronic disorder affecting about 14 million Pakistanis and nearly 50 percent of people of over 71 years. In case a patient is diagnosed and treated wrongly, they can become disabled for their entire life. Arthritis brutally attacks every minor joint of the body. When the problem reaches its peak, medicine cannot cure it, and then surgery has to be performed to save the patient's life.

Joint pain is very common in Pakistan and people often ignore the symptoms of Arthritis. Hence, Fatima Memorial Hospital in collaboration with Arthritis Care Foundation (ACF) has been helping the underprivileged patients to overcome this painful disease by providing free or subsidized treatment. However, over a period of time, the number of patients requiring free treatment has risen and the shortage of funds has made it extremely difficult to cater to the rising number of patients. Hence, we are relying on the generous donations of our auspicious donors to support us in the cause of providing free treatment for arthritis patients to the underprivileged.

It was only due to the previous donations that Fatima Memorial Hospital was able to provide free diagnostics, medication, biologists, joint replacement and expensive treatment to deserving patients. However, as mentioned above, the increasing patient flow limits FMH’s ability to cater to all deserving patients. Hence, we request our valued partners in this cause, to help us with a big heart so that are able to cater to as much patients as possible and help them walk again!

Thank you!