SINA serves 1.2m people in a year and will keep doing onward.

• Author: Ahmed, Khaleel
• Position: SINA Health, Education & Welfare Trust

Byline: KHALIL AHMED

Conversation with Ms. Ambareen Kazim Thompson - CEO, SINA

Profile:

Ambareen Kazim Thompson has dedicated her life to working in Pakistan. With over 20 years of experience in the corporate sector, she decided to use her learnings to improve the social development landscape instead, giving back to society and supporting the most vulnerable. Although she holds dual citizenship in the UK, she has chosen to live and work in Pakistan and says 'Karachi is home, it is my first love'. Ambareen brings problem-solving skills, a strong network and a 'can do' attitude which helps to overcome the many challenges both SINA and its teams face in the field. Her vision for SINA is that of an organization with a national footprint, one that takes away at least 10% of the country's primary healthcare burden, providing quality care for those that need it the most. 'Access to health care is a fundamental right of every human being, every citizen of Pakistan, whether they can afford it or not, it is as essential as clean drinking water or the right to an education'.

PAKISTAN and GULF ECONOMIST had an exclusive conversation with Ms. Ambareen Kazim Thompson about SINA. Following are the excerpts of the conversation:

Removed from the bustle of central Karachi, and away from sight, urban slums house around 40% of the city's population - a whopping 10.3 million people that are living below the poverty line, without access to proper healthcare. This number has now escalated with the influx of rain affectees, many of them suffering from waterborne diseases such as gastroenteritis, skin inflammations, malaria, dengue, typhoid etc.

With the help of donors, this year SINA has served 1.2 million people - from curing a cold to managing chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension - every primary healthcare need is taken care of. By diagnosing patients earlier, we have not only reduced the burden on the city's limited public hospitals and emergency rooms, but we have extended lives. 40% of all patients at tertiary hospitals can be handled at primary health centers including managing diabetes and hypertension.

With 50% of all deaths in Pakistan attributed to chronic diseases, primary healthcare is the first defense towards the prevention of these unnecessary deaths. As we are all aware, medical education in Pakistan is expensive and limited seats become available each year. 50% of all those who qualify either do not practice, switch to other areas of...