A family-owned business in Peterborough that provides free medical care to families in Pakistan is raising money for new equipment. AA Labels, a specialist labels manufacturer, opened the Sakina Al Shafa Clinic in Lahore in 2009 to provide free general medical care for families unable to afford private medical costs.
It now aims to raise another c. £200K to purchase used Angiography and ECG equipment to expand its services and diagnose a range of heart conditions.cThe clinic was established by AA Labels’ owner, Sohail Sethi, who was born in the UK but spent his early formative years living with family in Lahore, before marrying his wife, Asifa, who also originates from the city.
In order to create new jobs and opportunities, AA Labels relocated its accounts, IT and design teams to Lahore, leading to the creation of the medical practice. Sohail Sethi comments: “The motivation was to assist with the alleviation of hardship associated with poverty through the provision of free medical services in a city that has connections and history for my family.A property was acquired for the purpose of the relocation and the idea for a clinic to occupy the ground floor area was born. When the clinic first opened it was intended to serve a small local community in north of Lahore, providing free basic consultation, medical and prescription services for around 300 patients a week, but it has since grown to become five times that size due to increasing demand. The clinic serves a particularly poor neighbourhood in Lahore and unfortunately, the provision of free medical services such as this are not common in Pakistan, hence the need to expand the size of the clinic and range of services provided to keep pace with demand. As AA Labels continues to grow as a business, it enables us to provide free general medical services to more and more families, and improve access to treatment and equipment.”
The clinic is entirely funded by Medicaid Action Ltd, the charity set up by Sohail and Asifa to support the day-to-day running of the clinic. Money raised by the charity enables the clinic to open six days a week and employ six full-time members of staff who now see around 300 patients per day for consultations and repeat medication for illnesses, such as asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure. The premises benefit from two fully equipped GP consultation and examination rooms, a nurse’s consultation and examination room, a pharmacy, waiting rooms and a reception area.
