WANA: A family from Lower South Waziristan which has lost seven out of 10 children to hemophilia - an inherited bleeding disorder in which the blood does not clot properly-has appealed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to release the cash amount promised reportedly by former premier Nawaz Sharif to the distressed couple.
The head of the family, Abdul Mohammad Wazir, told The News he hails from Azam Warsak area of the Birmal tehsil of Lower South Waziristan district.
He said he married his cousin Feroza Bibi in 1978. The couple was blessed with children and bad luck struck the family as the kids were diagnosed with hemophilia from time to time . “I have lost seven children to the disease while the rest of the three are struggling for life,” he added.
Abdul Mohammad said he did not sit idle and spent whatever he used to earn while working in the United Arab Emirates on the treatment of his ailing children but even that huge spending could save most of his kids.
The man said he had six daughters and four sons. They included Roshana Bibi, Satrajana, Gul Rubana, Sheikh Salama, Rumana, Nasreen Bibi, Najibullah, Khairullah, Zainullah, and Asmatullah. Seven of them have died of hemophilia, he lamented.
Abdul Mohammad recalled that he had met the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif with a request for treatment of his children, adding the latter had approved a special cash help of Rs 3.8 million for the purpose but that pledge was never honoured.
He said the then Army Chief General Raheel Sharif had approved a monthly stipend of Rs 40,000 and ration for the family which he continued to receive till 2021. He said the stipend was stopped last year.
He implored Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to release him the Rs3.8 million approved by the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for the family so that he could get his three ailing children treated .