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A Million-Dollar Smile Found in Gwadar

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Located on the southwestern Arabian Sea coast of Pakistan, in Gwadar District of Balochistan province, Gwadar is a port city that has been a regional settlement for centuries. The city, located on the shores of the Arabian Sea, is the 100th largest city of Pakistan, having an estimated population of 138,000 as of 2020. Although the area has a long history, it became a bustling tourist destination only a few years ago when the spellbinding beauty of Gwadar began to gain fame on the social media. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has further made Gwadar the focus of attention because China has not only built a highway connecting the Gwadar Port with northern Pakistan, but also improved the port and the surrounding coastal areas.


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Unfortunately, despite the mesmerizing sunset and scenic views, Gwadar suffers from the lowest Human Development Index (HDI), resulting in an impoverished quality of life and healthcare facilities in the region. The only GDA Hospital in the city is providing medical care to the whole city in a resource-constrained environment. Moreover, partially constructed District Headquarter Hospital (DHQ) and distantly located Rural Health Centres (RHCs) and Basic Health Units (BHUs) in the area are preforming the daunting task of sending relief teams and medical care all over Gwadar District.


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Free Medical Camps in Gwadar
In order to provide some relief, and to extend a helping hand to the people of Gwadar, Pakistan Army established medical camps within the district during the month of January and February 2023. Free medical camps are organized with the aim to bring awareness amongst the deprived population to get their basic right of quality healthcare service at the doorstep. These medical camps not only provided the people with essential medicines for common illnesses, but also treatment for specific illnesses prevalent in the area were also provided. People were also checked and examined for an early identification of chronic illnesses like diabetes and blood pressure, whereas deserving cases were also referred to tertiary care hospitals for further evaluation and treatment.


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Facilities in the Camps
The camps comprised of separate outpatient departments (OPDs) for males, females and children. A detention ward was established for seriously dehydrated or malnourished patient. As a part of winning hearts and minds (WHAM) activities, gifts were also distributed amongst children which were comprised of stationary items to inculcate awareness among the children regarding education.
The importance of free medical camps in resources-starved communities is immense as basic health treatment is the right of every human being. Establishment of regular free medical camps in the city and the surrounding areas of Gwadar will continue to not only provide free medications to the needy populace, but also the availability of various specialists in such camps, seeing patients and prescribing treatment to the underprivileged class of the society will provide them with better medical care and a sense of hope, satisfaction and a million-dollar smile.


The writer is a Graduate of Army Medical College (AMC), commissioned in April 2007. He has served as a flight surgeon at various posts including Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and United Nations (UN) mission at Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He is currently commanding a medical battalion at Gwadar.
E-mail: omarzamankhan@gmail.com

 
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Make Gwadar a Special Administrative Zone like Hong Kong or Macau, then develop a beautiful tourist and leisure destination like Dubai, but more authentic.
 
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