Back in the early 1980s, Dr Zafar Mohammad Qureshi, a psychiatrist of great repute and a philanthropist, was approached by a lady who tried her best to get affordable treatment for a poor mentally ill patient.

She posed a discomforting question to the doctor: where should the poor and underprivileged go for treatment of mental illness?

This is when Dr Zafar realised there was then no place in Karachi he could suggest.

Brainchild of Dr Zafar, Karwan-e-Hayat, Institute for Mental Health Care was launched to provide treatment and rehabilitation services to mentally ill patients who could not afford treatment.

A handful of psychiatry professionals, social workers, philanthropists, such as late Begum Raana Liaquat Ali Khan, Begum Shaista Ikramullah, Prof. Zaki Hasan, Mr. Rustamji of the BVS Parsi school, Ms. Anita Ghulam Ali, Cardinal Joseph Cordeiro among others, became Karwan’s founding members.

Soon the non-profit welfare organisation expanded as the number of underprivileged patients visiting increased day by day.

While many joined the bandwagon with Dr Zafar Qureshi initially - who also created awareness on mental illness through seminars and workshops - it was in 1983 that the Karwan-e-Hayat was formally inaugurated.

With limited means, a small mental illness clinic was set up in two rented rooms in Punjab Colony which drew many patients through word of mouth.

Today, Karwan-e-Hayat functions as a 100-bed hospital and rehabilitation unit at Keamari, an outpatient facility at Jami, and a Community Psychiatry Centre in Korangi.

It is the only NGO of its kind that not only offers treatment but also rehabilitation services along with skill training to help mentally challenged patients salvage the time they lost to mental illness.

Karwan-e-Hayat’s aim is to work for the prevention, relief and treatment of mental illness; to work towards the rehabilitation of mentally distressed people, especially the underprivileged and to organise, train and maintain a team of dedicated psychiatrists, psychologists, occupational therapists and social workers to ensure a competent and ongoing mental health service.

The organisation also intends to raise public awareness about mental illness and to foster behavioral change in society.

In 2004, Karwan-e-Hayat opened the largest inpatient hospital for mentally ill patients, initially treating a total of 9,757 patients during the year 2005-2006.

Today, KeH treats more than 80,000 patients annually and impacts over 5,600,000 lives.

96% percent of these received treatment either free of cost or at a highly subsidised rate.

Administering the latest psychiatric treatment and rehabilitation techniques, Karwan-e-Hayat began the country’s state-of-the-art psychiatric rehab unit at Keamari after an intensive training from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, USA.

This is the first of its kind facility which successfully treats mentally ill patients and rehabilitates them to return to their loved ones, and live a productive life.

In 2011, Karwan launched another model of Community Psychiatry which is an outpatient facility in Korangi.

This facility is based on treating the patient at home with the help of case workers, social workers, occupational therapists etc.

Such rehabilitation techniques have been fairly effective in helping mentally ill patients maintain healthy relationships with their co-workers, family members and also being productive at work.

Ahmed's story

Ahmed (name changed to maintain privacy) was 25 years old when he showed signs of severe schizophrenia. His family misread the symptoms and had him chained at a shrine in interior Sindh.

When he was referred to Karwan-e-Hayat, he had lost almost 10 years of his life.

With treatment that ensued almost a year, he recovered and was discharged.

Today he carries out all his personal chores and is able to work as well.

Ahmed was lucky to have found his way to Karwan-e-Hayat, but many still remain unattended due to stigma and lack of awareness on mental illness.

An estimated 15 million people in Pakistan are faced with mental illness and a sizable 2 million in Karachi are faced with mild to severe mental disorders.

It has been a constant challenge for Karwan-e-Hayat to sustain efforts due to the increasing number of patients visiting the facilities with restricted funds.

What keep the facility going is the smiles and deep sense of gratitude patients exhibit upon treatment, and their return to healthy, productive lives.

According to the Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy, almost 98 per cent people in Pakistan extend support wholeheartedly to philanthropic causes, which makes our country unique in more ways than one.

Speaking of the many challenges the organisation faces in the current times due to Covid-19, Mr. Zaheeruddin Babar, CEO, Karwan-e-Hayat, said, “We are all aware, the world is currently confronted with an unprecedented challenge of the Covid-19 outbreak. The speed of the economic disruption and damage created by this pandemic would be devastating for all struggling nations like Pakistan with their weak healthcare infrastructure. With so many of us staying home and feeling helpless, we all need to join hands on the global pledge to fight the battle against mental illness. Amidst the trauma of the constantly changing alerts and media coverage leading to increased anxiety and panic attacks for those isolated, the demand for mental healthcare has never been greater".

Considering the gaps in service provisions for mental healthcare systems, Karwan-e-Hayat essentially advocates on behalf of those who have been underprivileged or ignored by the system for too long.

The corporate sector and high net-worth individuals can help facilities like Karwan-e-Hayat run not just treatment programs, but also ensure vocational training of these patients that would help them lead a productive life.

Karwan-e-Hayat can be contacted at:

Karwan-e-Hayat Psychiatric Care and Rehabilitation Centre, Near KPT Hospital and Ziauddin Hospital, Keamari, Karachi

Phone: UAN: (021) 111-534-111

Email: info@keh.org.pk

Website: www.keh.org.pk

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