“Nothing gives me more “kick” than the happy faces of the parents of my patients”
“Newly born prenatal twins Shahmir and Shezmir were to lose their lives even before properly opening their eyes to this world but they Survived”
In the hospital where they were born, their only fault was that they were born in a poor family, their parents could not afford medical expenses even at the expense of the lives of their babies. It is then that he treated them and provided all the necessary services -free of charge!
Dr. Atif Mansoor is an enigma to people around him. Byany stretch of imagination, the 32 year oldwalks a fine line between passion and lunacy. He is also a Medical Director at Al- Ata Foundation and Resident Pediatrics at National Institute of Child Health, a humanitarian who launched his NGO called Al- Ata Foundation in 2012 in order to provide free health services to the unprivileged children.
Even though the death toll of prenatal newborn babies has decreased in recent times in comparison to the past but still there is no hope for the babies born in the poor families. The children of unprivileged parents die every day and no one takes notice of the factors behind it. The emerging trend of unregistered and unauthorized medical clinics and maternity homes where ward boys are in charge of decisions has made it a thought provoking moment for Dr. Atif Mansoor , who felt that the system cannot change but his own priorities can. That is when he decided to open up Al-Ata medical and diagnostic centre.
While speaking about his motivation , he describes that it was always his dream to serve humanity, he would vest his personal earnings to save lives of those suffering, his motivation is the smile on the face of his little patients and their parents that he renders priceless. He attended Baqai Medical University and holds an MBBS degree along with reputed specializations . When asked about what inspired him to start up his own foundation:
“After completing my degree, I was serving at NICU which is a government hospital, I recall it as my training era , in which I recognized the other side of the picture. It took a lot of gob- smacking emotional moments that I witnessed there in two years that I decided to open up my own medical centre where I could provide free health services majorly to newborn, neonates and infants whose parents cannot afford expensive medicines and health related expenses . I have seen children dying in front of me because of financial constraints. It was then that the idea of Al- Ata foundation emerged and started taking shape of reality. “
About the services at Al- Ata foundation:
“Al Ata Foundation runs PIC (Incubator and ventilator services) as well as free OPD , I have a couple of friends and colleagues who run the organization with me. We saved lives of countless newborn babies and now further we are planning to transform this foundation into a proper hospital in the near future so that the unprivileged families are facilitated properly”
There are a lot of medical centres in our country which are not authentic or registered, Dr. Atif mentioned that he has witnessed even a ward boy running a clinic where they misguide the parents of the children and make black money. When I asked him about one of such events that he encountered:
“ Ward boys, with no education or degree misguide the parents by telling them that their babies are on ventilator where in reality their babies are kept in the incubator which is merely a temperature regulating machine. This is one example that I myself witnessed but there are many more.
Dr.Atif further added that our government should take notice of the unregistered medical clinics and maternity homes. Also the people should make sure that they do not risk the lives of their babies and seek for proper health services. More organizations like Al- Ata Foundation should be sponsored by the government with not just low charges but proper health facilities.
According to the parents of the two years old baby boy Atif named after Dr.Atif : “Dr.Atif Mansoor is an angel in disguise!”
