Tue Sep 26 2023, 01:50 AM

Islam, Women and Feminism ( 27 Jan 2016, NewAgeIslam.Com)

Remote Patient Care with Female Doctors at the Fore in Pakistan

New Age Islam News Bureau

27 Jan 2016

Photo: All treatment procedures are carried out by the nurse under the virtual supervision of the doctHER. ─Photo courtesy doctHERs

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• Remote Patient Care with Female Doctors at the Fore in Pakistan

• El Salvador Advises Women to Avoid Pregnancy for 2 Years Due to Zika Virus Outbreak

• Why David Cameron’s New Policy about Muslim Women Should Be Rescinded

• Arrest Egyptian Female Singer Angham: The Personal Status Court in Kuwait

• Indian Women May Hold Only 40 Per Cent in Managerial Ranks in 2025: Report

• Former Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia To Appear In Court Accused Of Sedition

Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau

URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/remote-patient-care-with-female/d/106133

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Remote Patient Care with Female Doctors at the Fore in Pakistan

Jan 26, 2016

Out of the many female doctors who graduate from medical schools every year, most do not continue with the profession after getting their degrees. This is true in Pakistan, even though women far outweigh the number of men in any medical school incoming class, due to cultural pressures and domestic taboos.

When girls are discouraged from being full-time doctors, their potential is clamped down. Meanwhile, the huge gap between the number of available doctors and the number of patients grows even wider.

Enter doctHERs. While the government is busy re-working quotas and policies, this startup is taking the problem head-on with an innovative approach: merging online technology with healthcare, to create a marketplace where female doctors can access patients remotely.

doctHERs is available to patients in both rural and urban areas. While challenges differ in the two areas, gains are the same: doctHERs creates employment opportunities for women, and improves the quality of healthcare in the region.

Related: 50pc of female doctors never work after graduation

How doctHERs works

The clinics operate in a simple manner. Nurses are available at various time slots to conduct the patients’ history and examination. The details are then communicated to the assigned female doctor, who in collaboration with the nurse provides the needed advice and treatment.

All treatment procedures are carried out by the nurse under the virtual supervision of the doctHER. The programme consists of peripheral diagnostic tools as well, so the doctor can assess her patient’s vital signs remotely.

Since the clinic is dedicated to treating patients under a cost-effective price, it charges a minimum of Rs100 to a maximum of Rs1,200 per patient and virtual clinic consultation. 50 per cent of the revenue is paid to the doctHER network, and 25 per cent to the nurses and community health workers.

The remaining 15pc covers operational costs, yielding a net profit of 10%. In order to assist patients who cannot afford healthcare, the organisation is also working on incorporating a 'Zakat and Welfare Model.'

Improved healthcare

doctHERs launched its first clinic in Model Colony in May 2015. The clinic includes a mini pharmacy, a family planning lab and a lab collection. The center has seen up to 3,600 patients already, who have visited the clinic seeking treatment for diabetes, eye care, skin issues and a range of other medical issues. Patients also come seeking ultrasounds and specialised treatments.

doctHERs vision emphasises on improving care in both rural and urban areas. In accordance with this goal, clinics have also been set up in Manshera in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Manshera clinic treated 250 patients on its inauguration day alone.

The organisation trains and employs female nurses, community health workers and community midwives to assist doctors. 'MidWives assist doctHERs', is a specific campaign that hires midwives and nurses in assessing patients at points-of-care (PoC) set up at the clinics.

Adjusting to technology

Of course, the use of technology raises eyebrows in a culture that does not support the idea of the Internet as a positive force. Hardly 15.9 per cent of Pakistan’s population uses the Internet, while the rest are only adjusting to the use of cell phones.

Co-founders of doctHERs believe that changing the mindset of the community will be integral in the startup’s success — people have to believe in the advent of technology. To deal with this hostility, doctHERs is using individual mobilisation and has launched a massive door-to-door campaign.

But implementing a system like doctHERs in areas where people have never used a computer or a smart phone requires dedicated efforts. To address peoples' lack of comfort, training and mock sessions are held in areas with clinics, so users can familiarise themselves with the system, and know where to go for medical help.

Along with that, awareness and advertising social campaigns are also being carried out to eliminate fears associated with technology. doctHERs is encouraging both patients and doctors to join the network.

Dr. Iffat Zaffar, co-founder of doctHERs believes that digital health is the future. "In 10 years, it will be a part of the healthcare reforms," she says. "Not only will tele-medicine become a subject in medical schools but rather will be a specialised field on its own."

Paving their own paths

Despite the challenges, the co-founders see a prosperous future for the organisation and hope to launch at least 50 more clinics by the end of 2016.

doctHERs' outreach is a huge step forward in promoting women in leadership positions. Their training networks and conferences have engaged more than 300,000 female physicians in Pakistan.

According to the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, more than 70 per cent medical students are women, and yet only 23 per cent are registered female doctors. DocHers is a small but significant way to rectify the gap between trained and practicing female doctors, nurses and community health workers.

As Dr. Sara Khurram, co-founder of doctHERs says: “Women should not have to choose between having a family and a career. It is integral for their existence that they pave their own path.”

http://www.dawn.com/news/1234694/docthers-remote-patient-care-with-female-doctors-at-the-fore

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El Salvador Advises Women to Avoid Pregnancy for 2 Years Due to Zika Virus Outbreak

By GILLIAN MOHNEY Jan 26, 2016,

As worries intensify about the Zika virus due to its association with a rare paralysis syndrome and rise of birth defect called microcephaly, health officials are taking drastic measures to stop the disease.

In a stunning development in El Salvador, health officials have advised all women of reproductive age to delay pregnancy until 2018 due to concerns about possible birth defects linked to the virus. Earlier this month, the El Salvador Health Department disclosed they had found 492 Zika cases.

The spokeswoman for El Salvador health department confirmed to ABC News they are advising women from becoming pregnant but have not issued any official guidelines or policy statements.

The El Salvador advisory comes after thousands of children in Brazil were born with a dangerous birth defect called microcephaly, where head and brain are not fully developed.

In Brazil, the government has called in the military to assist with a nationwide push to eradicate the virus. The health minister said that the military and civil defense services would be called in to help health workers combat the virus, which is spread my mosquitoes.

Mosquito-Born Zika Virus Linked to Birth Defects

Health workers stand in the Sambadrome while spraying insecticide to combat the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that transmits the Zika virus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Jan. 26, 2016.more +

Brazilian Health Minister Marcelo Castro said in a statement Friday that the government would use 266,000 community health workers and 44,000 health agents to combat the disease. Concerns about the virus spiked after thousands of infants were born with microcephaly birth defect, where the head and brain are underdeveloped. Officials are also probing if a rare paralysis syndrome called Guillain-Barre Syndrome is connected to the disease.

That rare syndrome is caused by an immunological response after an infection and has been known to occur after other viral and bacterial infections, including influenza.

Other countries including Colombia have reportedly advised women to avoid getting pregnant until there is more information about the Zika virus.

Mylene Helena Ferreira holds her son David Henrique, 5 months, who has microcephaly, on Jan. 25, 2016 in Recife, Brazil.more +

"Like chikungunya, Zika is a new virus that the population of the Americas has no immunity to," Dr. Marcos Espinal, director of Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization's Department of Communicable Diseases, said last week. "It has already spread to 17 countries in our region, and the rest should be prepared for its further spread."

The virus is transmitted mainly through the bite of the Aedes genus of mosquitoes. This is the same type of mosquito that spreads dengue fever.

The virus has been found mainly in tropical settings in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. An outbreak of the disease in Brazil lead to an alert by the Pan American Health Organization last May.

abcnews.go.com/Health/el-salvador-advises-women-avoid-pregnancy-years-due/story?id=36524952

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Why David Cameron’s New Policy about Muslim Women Should Be Rescinded

Jan 25, 2016

Last week, the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, stated that Muslim women who fail to learn the English language to a standard considered high enough would face deportation. His statement was directed particularly to spouses who came to Britain to live with their partners. Immigration laws in Britain already mandate that these spouses must at least be able to speak English before they come to live in the UK. However, now it seems the prime minister wants to raise the standard, in an attempt to discourage them from extremism. Cameron claims that their inability to speak English makes them “more susceptible” to messages of extremism.

This announcement has been met with backlash from rival groups in the UK. The country’s Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron, said the PM’s linking of Muslim women’s struggle to learn the English language with terrorism would “isolate the very people Cameron says he’s trying to help.” Tim Farron seems to be right, considering ISIS’s “Grey zone” rhetoric.

ISIS defines the grey zone as part of Europe that has a high population of Muslims, and its aim is to push these “moderate” Muslims who haven’t chosen a “side” to do so. ISIS attacks, therefore, are aimed at accomplishing this objective.

Cameron’s statement rests on stereotypes, especially when he states “some of these people have come from quite patriarchal societies and perhaps the menfolk haven’t wanted them to speak English.” An estimated 22 percent of Muslim women in the UK do not speak English and are susceptible to extremism. However, does Cameron’s new policy suggest that the remaining 78 percent who speak English are not susceptible to extremism? This question brings to mind the number of Muslim female teenagers and adults who were educated in the UK, speak perfect English and yet, still travelled to Syria to join ISIS. The British-Nigerian mother of “Jihadi Junior”, Grace Dare (now Khadijah) and Samantha Lethwaite, also called the ‘White Widow’, are prime examples of British Muslim women who can speak perfect English and still found their way to extremist groups.

Analysts have called Cameron’s new policy an attempt “to portray himself as tough to appeal to Islamophobic elements in the media and in his own party.” However, his policy could backfire, especially if Muslim extremist leaders see it as an opportunity to tell Muslim mothers and sisters they are being discriminated against and marginalized by the West. Cameron’s new policy is politically incorrect at best – especially when there are other groups of women who can’t speak English properly in the UK. Encouraging immigrant groups in the the country to speak English is not the problem, but linking those who struggle to pick up the language with terrorism and threatening them with deportation, might actually yield the opposite of Cameron’s goal.

venturesafrica.com/is-david-camerons-new-policy-indirectly-pro-extremism/

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Arrest Egyptian female singer Angham: The Personal Status Court in Kuwait

Jan 27, 2016

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 26: The Personal Status Court in Kuwait has ordered the arrest of Egyptian female singer Angham upon arrival at the country’s airport, reports Al-Kuwaitiah. The court ruling came after Angham refused to carry out an earlier court decision to allow her divorced Kuwaiti husband, a music distributor, Fahd Mohammed Al-Shalabi, to see their only son Abdulrahman following which the ex-husband sought the help of the judiciary. It is worth mentioning the couple married in 2004 and divorced in 2007.

Meanwhile, a wellknown UAE female singer Ahlam Al-Shamsi has apologized to Kuwaiti female writer Fajr Al-Saeed, reports Al-Kuwaitiah daily. Without going into details, the daily said the fans of Ahlam had criticized Fajr Al-Saeed through their tweets, a matter that made Ahlam respond to her fans telling that they have freedom to express their opinions, yet Fajr Al-Saeed is her close friend. However, she apologized to Al-Fajr on behalf of her fans.

arabtimesonline.com/news/arrest-egyptian-female-singer-angham/

Women May Hold Only 40 Per Cent In Managerial Ranks In 2025: Report

All India | Press Trust of India | January 27, 2016

MUMBAI: Women are under-represented in the workforce globally, including in India, and if the current rate of progress continues only 40 per cent would reach the professional and managerial ranks in 2025, according to a global report.

"The traditional methods of advancing women are not moving the needle, and under-representation of women around the world has become an economic and social travesty," Mercer's Pat Milligan said quoting the 'Global Leader of When Women Thrive' report.

She said while leaders have been focusing on women at the top, they are largely ignoring the female talent pipelines that are critical to maintaining progress.

The global study covered 583 organisations in 42 countries, including India, representing 3.2 million employees, including 1.3 million women.

"Focus on women across the complete talent pipeline and in all organisational and people processes needs to become a way of life. A key driver of this change will be how both men and women champion the cause of women at work," Mercer's Shanthi Naresh said.

In terms of regional rankings, Latin America is projected to increase women representation to 49 per cent in 2025 from 36 per cent in 2015, followed by Australia and New Zealand moving to 40 per cent from 35 per cent.

The US and Canada may improve by just 1 per cent to 40 per cent from 39 per cent, Europe is projected to remain flat at 37 per cent and Asia may rank last at 28 per cent, up from just 25 per cent in 2015.

The report said Asia is projected to have the lowest representation of women in 2025.

A focus on increasing representation at the top of organisations will not help Asia move out of last place over the next decade in terms of overall female representation.

Organisations here are least likely, compared with other regions, to be focused on many of the drivers of gender diversity parameters like the engagement of their middle managers (30 per cent) and their male employees (28 per cent), the adoption of a rigorous pay equity process (25 per cent), or the review of performance ratings by gender to look for adverse impact (20 per cent).

The report also found that representation of women within organisations declines as career levels rise, that is from support staff through the executive level.

It also revealed that only 9 per cent of organisations surveyed globally offer women-focused retirement and savings programmes with the US and Canada ranking first (14 per cent).

Globally, women make up 33 per cent of managers, 26 per cent of senior managers and only 20 per cent of executives.

ndtv.com/india-news/women-may-hold-only-40-per-cent-in-managerial-ranks-in-2025-report-1270691

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Women May Hold Only 40 Per Cent In Managerial Ranks In 2025: Report

January 27, 2016

Mumbai: Women are under-represented in the workforce globally, including in India, and if the current rate of progress continues only 40 per cent would reach the professional and managerial ranks in 2025, according to a global report.