Pharma Veterans

Putting Patient Care First – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1120 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1120 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Jeff Yen Credit: Jsme MILA Credit: Los Muertos Crew Preamble Healthcare is a science—but at its core, it remains profoundly human. However, in Pakistan and elsewhere, healthcare has become a great commercial commodity. Though the patient is the central figure who keeps the private healthcare machine running and making huge profits with his money, but unfortunately, he/she is the most exploited in every manner. The story of public healthcare is even more heartbreaking because the patient is made to realize that he/she is using public funds and has no right to complain about anything.  In this backdrop of utter despondency, the thoughts expressed be...

Upskilling – The Urgent Requirement in Healthcare– Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1113 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1113 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Credit: MART Production Credit: Yusuf Timur Çelic Preamble The global healthcare sector is facing an acute labor shortage. Driven by an aging population, chronic disease burdens, and workforce burnout exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for healthcare services is far outpacing supply. One of the most urgent and viable strategies to bridge this gap is large-scale upskilling. Upskilling refers to equipping existing employees with new or enhanced skills to meet evolving job requirements. In healthcare, this can mean training nurses to use new technologies, educating care workers to handle more complex patient needs, or preparing...

Gen Z Approach to Healthcare – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1109 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1109 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com . Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com   for publishing your contributions here. Erin Li Credit: Kaboompics Credit: RDNE Stock Project Preamble The healthcare landscape is undergoing a major shift, not only due to technological advancements and pandemic-induced reforms, but also because of changing consumer behaviors. At the center of this evolution is Generation Z, the cohort born between 1996 and 2010. As the first truly digital-native generation, Gen Z is redefining how healthcare is consumed, understood, and accessed. Unlike previous generations, Gen Z approaches healthcare with a tech-first mindset. This generation lives online — they socialize, learn, shop, and increasingly, manage their health via digital platforms. Their expect...

The Greed in Healthcare System – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 1048 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 1048 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com for publishing our contributions here. Credit: Anna Shvets Credit: Andrea Piacquadio This post is inspired by an article by Donald M. Berwick, published in JAMA – Journal of American Medical Association. Link at the end. Preamble The healthcare in most countries has become a huge profit-making industry. Hospitals, physicians, pharmacies, drug suppliers are all part of the profiteering. The healthcare institutions advertise that ‘they keep the patient in the center’; this appears true. They do keep the patients in the center to slaughter them financially, mercilessly.  I am borrowing from the JAMA® article mentioned above, which is titled ‘Salve Lucrum: The Existential Threat of Greed in US Health C...

Quitting Tobacco Use – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #988 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #988 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to aq.pharmaveterans@gmail.com for publishing your contributions here. Alexandar Andreev Credit: Antoni Shkraba Credit: Eren Özdemir Credit: Thibault Luycx World Health Organization has issued “WHO clinical treatment guideline for tobacco cessation in adults” in July 2024. Link at the end. I was a good (read heavy) smoker for many years before I quit about nineteen years ago. Of course, I still carry a soft corner for smokers, particularly, when I see them being restricted from all public places like restaurants, parks, hotels, airports, and so on. Life is not enjoyable for smokers anymore. There was a time when tobacco chewing was part of culture and lifestyle, and smoking was iconic and related to real men. Almost all adults and elderly men ...

Healthcare Landscape in Pakistan – Diagnostic Laboratories – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #985 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #985 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to aq.pharmaveterans@gmail.com for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Unknown Credit: Pavel Danilyuk Credit: Thirdman Diagnostic labs have become an integral part of medical treatment. Unlike previous times, when few labs did manual testing and the only imaging available was x-ray, the diagnostic facilities have come a long way. Along with this development, the doctors’ dependence on lab tests has increased to the extent where almost 100 percent patients are prescribed multiple tests. While it has improved clinical outcomes, it has also added to the cost of medical treatment hugely.  In this blogpost, I shall explore the status of medical diagnostic labs in Pakistan. National Laboratory Policy...

Healthcare Landscape in Pakistan – Blood(y) Business – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 984 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 984 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to aq.pharmaveterans@gmail.com for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Amornthrep Srina Credit: Beyza Kaplan Credit: Diego Romera Credit: Gustavo Fring Credit: Karolina Kaboompics ‘Blood is the lifeline’ is as old an adage as may be traced in history. ‘Blood loss must be replaced with blood’ had been in practice for decades but the situation changed somewhat after the introduction and intense promotion of plasma substitutes which could at least make up the volume. Blood transfusion remains essential in conditions like severe anemia particularly in pregnant women, extreme blood loss in serious injuries, prolonged surgical procedures, and blood disorders like Thalassemia, Hemophilia, blood and bone marrow di...

Healthcare Landscape in Pakistan – Facilities for Disabled – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 983 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 983 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to aq.pharmaveterans@gmail.com for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Antoni Shkraba Credit: Eren Li Credit: Mehmet Turgut Kirkgoz Credit: Sany Nur Credit: Shvets Production World Health Organization – WHO – states that people with disabilities, throughout the life course, have unequal access to healthcare services, have greater unmet healthcare needs, and experience poorer levels of health compared with the general population. As a result, people with disabilities have poorer health outcomes than the general population.  People with disabilities frequently experience preventable diseases and report high incidence of risk behavior such as obesity, smoking, and physical inactivity. It means a par...